What He Never Had
by Jezaray
Summary: Harry goes back through time and becomes his younger self. The discovery that Lily was a Changeling Child switched with the Evans' real child at birth leads him back to his inhuman roots.
1. Prologue

What He Never Had

By Jezaray (formerly JeZeBeL)

NOTE: Yes, I am QUITE aware that Harry is some sort of impossible creature mutt. No need to tell me this. Most of the story was written a long time ago, so just try to enjoy it and not take it too seriously!

* * *

Prologue

* * *

Uncle Vernon grumbled as he pulled up in front of the train station. "Be quick about it." He ordered.

"Going, going…" Harry pacified him. _Well, I wasn't expecting a goodbye, was I?_ He thought. _It's not so bad; just don't think about your so-called 'family'. You have a better family anyway— Ron and __Hermione._Sometimes, in his mind's eye, he could see his real parents as they would have been_—_ dropping him off. _Wishing him well, telling him they'd be expecting him at Christmas, telling him to have fun and try not to get into too much trouble before you learn something useful- see? I'm doing it again. _

Uncle Vernon popped the trunk, and Harry hauled out his stuff, carefully removing his owl Hedwig from the back seat.

The car sped away, and Harry grabbed a trolley and headed in. Leaning casually against the wall between platforms nine and ten, he slipped into the secluded wizard platform, nine and three quarters. _This is where I belong, alone or not. _

Craning his neck, he didn't catch a glimpse of either Ron or Hermione in the bustling crowd. _Ah, well, I'll just stake a spot on the train and find them later, _he thought and climbed onto the Hogwarts Express.

A minute later he was standing outside the train again, watching for his friends. _Ah, there they are. _

Hermione gave him a big hug, and from Ron he received an equally huge grin.

"Come on, I already have a compartment for us," Harry said. He felt very happy and complete.

With a lot of heaving, they all helped each other get their trunks onto the train and settled down.

"Did the muggles treat you all right this summer, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Okay, I guess," Harry sighed.

The train started moving, and Harry's mood lifted again. "Thanks for the gifts, though, they really cheered up my summer."

"Well, we weren't going to send you old socks for your birthday, were we, Ron?" Hermione said slyly.

"I sure hope not!" Harry exclaimed. "Hey_—_ look what Sirius gave me-"

**_Harry Potter. _**

"WHAT?" Harry jumped up. _That voice— it sounds like my own thoughts. It's definitely not out loud. But it's not me, either! _

**_Harry Potter, you have places to go. _**

The voice was male, and very insistent.

"Hey!" Harry yelled, not paying attention to Ron or Hermione, who were watching him with wide eyes.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"What is going on?" Harry asked miserably, panicked and unable to process her question. Someone grabbed at him, trying to get his attention.

**_Now! _**This was a chorus of voices, yelling in what was almost a grunt of effort.

At that word, Harry Potter blacked out.

* * *

Back at Hogwarts…

Madame Pomfrey, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, and almost all of the professors were crowded around the still form of Harry Potter lying motionless on a bed in the infirmary. The feast and sorting were over, and they had all come up to see what was wrong.

"Now, calm down, and tell me exactly what happened." Dumbledore said sternly. Hermione burst into tears again, her red eyes barely able to squint open, and Ron shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Everything was normal," Ron told them, for what felt like the tenth time. "We met Harry by the Hogwarts Express, and went inside. We were talking, and Harry started to say something, but then he started yelling, and when we asked him what was wrong he didn't answer. We grabbed at him, but he knocked us away. Then he just stopped and tilted his head to the side, and his eyes went wide, and he passed out."

Hermione nodded, muffling herself behind her hands.

Madame Pomfrey looked extremely distressed. "I can't find anything wrong with him; he's just not there," She explained.

* * *

Harry was cold. Air brushed over him, and he shivered.

_What happened? You there— voice, where am I? _

Then, suddenly, he was warmer than he had ever been in his life. Warmth rushed into his soul, and he was deeply comforted. He curled up in this warmth, extremely cozy. Everything just fit_‒_ an inner instinct told him everything was fine. _It's like I've been here forever… _He thought lazily. Another part of himself had surfaced and joined with him without thought.

Then he heard a loud, muffled, strange and somehow deeply familiar voice.

"Harry's moving again, James…"


	2. The Telepathy Sphere

* * *

Chapter Two: The Telepathy Sphere

* * *

Harry's POV

_Okay--__ stupid voice, if you don't answer me right now I'll... I'll… ugh!_ Harry kicked hard in frustration. He hiccupped angrily.

"OW! James, I swear, your son is either trying to kick his way out of me, or he's practising to be a beater… he's never kicked that hard before." There was a slight pressure, and he got the impression he was being rubbed. The voice, although complaining, was light and caring, and the hands radiated love. Harry stopped kicking. _Could it possible be…_

"You okay, Lily?" this voice was different, deeper, and male. It radiated the same strange familiarity. Harry hiccupped. _Lily and James… No way._

_**You are distressed,**_ The voice sounded in Harry's head abruptly. It was distant and apathetic.

It was a simple statement and Harry would have retorted angrily, but the second part of his brain, the small, soulful, happy, unthinking, non-violent one, told him to be at peace; nothing was wrong…

_YES! I AM VERY DISTRESSED! TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON, RIGHT NOW!_ He demanded. _Hiccup. Hiccup._

_**Your assumptions are correct. You are, indeed, unborn.**_

_Unborn!_

_**Yes. We moved you here. You may not go back, not yet. You will stay**__** you are your child self. There is much to be done. Be at ease, we will contact you when it is necessary. Enjoy this opportunity. Good-bye, Harry Potter.**_

_Wait… who are you?_ Hiccup.

_**You will come to know us, **_was the vague response.

Harry waited, but the voice seemed to be gone now. _Now what? _He wondered.

Suddenly it hit Harry. _Wow, I've gone back in time! I might even stay here until I'm born!_

_Wow, that sounded weird._ Hiccup. _Blasted hiccups._ They shook his whole body and jolted him out of his thoughts. _Maybe I'll get to relive being a baby! Until… until…__The voice said that there is much to be done__ or something like that. Hmmm. But if I changed something, wouldn't that also change the future? Or maybe… I have to do things so that things stay the same? It's possible that I've already gone back in time, and in the past changed things so that it would be possible for me to go back and keep things going right? I would make it possible for the other me, the peaceful one__--__ baby Harry__--_ he realized now; _to__ later in life come back in time and do the same things that I'm supposed to do now? _

_What if I make a mistake?_ Harry thought, hiccupping. _I could kill my younger self and never exist and then Voldemort would take over the world. But then the voice… or is it 'voices'? The voice had referred __to__ itself as 'we…'__wouldn't have brought me back._

_Well,_ Harry concluded, _there's time to worry about that __later if __I stay long enough in this little body. I'm not in a position to do anything right now. And if I do stay… I could meet my parents-- it's what I've always wanted. _

The gentle pressure of the resting hands disappeared.

"James, there's someone at the door," the feminine voice--_my MOTHER-- _called.

"GOT IT!" Familiar sounds of footsteps and doors opening. "Sirius!" his father said joyfully.

_Sirius- of course, he's here too!_ Baby Harry, who seemed to be merging with future Harry, reacted to his excitement and wriggled with joy. _Wriggled?_ Harry thought. _What am I doing?_

"How are you Lily, and the baby?" Sirius asked.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's happy to see you!" Lily called. Laughter.

_Hey, since I'm a baby I'm entitled to some things. Like wriggling._

"So how are things," James asked Sirius. "With Remus, and everybody?"

"Full moon last night, Remus didn't feel up to coming along-- he was too tired. Dumbledore says that Voldemort hasn't been up to anything lately- but the spies say that he's plotting. He has some new information that he had been brooding and plotting over, which can't be good and what's the baby's name." He added the last part smoothly.

"Sirius, have many times have we told you- it's a surprise. You can't trick us into saying _anything._"

"Aw, please? You already said I get to be the godfather! Let me in on your little secret! I won't tell anyone! Except for Moony, of course, and Dumbledore, and what's her name, my new blonde girlfriend… Marianne, that it!."

"Sure, _now_ we're going to tell you!" James said sarcastically.

"Oh- look, the fire's going green-- someone's coming." Lily said cheerfully.

* * *

Lily's POV

Lily acted normally on the outside, but on the inside, she was preoccupied. Her baby felt. . . different. _Not wrong, it was __alright__, just different. What was with that sudden vehement kicking fit a minute ago? He seemed upset. _As nothing seemed to be currently going wrong, she turned her attention to the fireplace, over Sirius's left shoulder. A figure burst forth, and they all turned around.

"Albus!" James was first to hug him, Sirius exchanged grins, and Dumbledore patted Lily on the belly. "Nice to see you. All is well here, I hope?"

"Oh yes, everything is absolutely fine." Lily beamed. "What brings you to our humble abode, Albus?" she asked. _What had Sirius said about Voldemort?_ Lily knew that Voldemort was after her husband and unborn child.

The spies had reported that You-Know-Who was practically obsessed with her pregnancy, and questioned them every day for news of birth. All of the Aurors knew about it, and everyone was over-paranoid when it came to her. _Maybe Voldemort knows __something we don't and wants us on his side? We would never go to the dark side, never._ Still, Voldemort tried-- and if they ever had to deny him to his face, they would die.

_Not my Harry! Never!_ She thought, and rubbed her belly. The baby responded, pressing back. He could be born any day now . . . _what would he look like? Would he look like James? Would James see him born? Would he see him grow up? What would happen if anything happened to James. . . or to me? I'm not going to think like this! Stop it, Lily._

"Nothing serious." Dumbledore assured them quickly, seeing Lily's stricken look. "I got this, a couple of days ago. Were you aware, Lily, that you have a great aunt?"

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed. "Auntie Camellia!" All dark thoughts were forgotten. "I haven't seen her in ages. She has this habit of disappearing and then showing up again when you least expect it."

"Exactly," Dumbledore nodded, looking relieved. "I couldn't figure out what was inside-- charmed wrapping paper, you see-- and since it was addressed to you I didn't open it. After all, Hogwarts is the safest place in the world-- even for your mail!" He laughed.

He reached inside of his cloak, feeling for some pocket or another. "Here!" He pulled out a square box, wrapped in a shimmering, layered wrapping that appeared to by woven and compressed Acromantula web.

"Wow," she said admiringly, fingering it. "Look, there's a note! It says, 'Lily, dear, have faith. Wait for the signals, you'll know what to do when the time comes. Protect Little Harry, but don't worry about him. All things in life have a possible second chance. This is for you; it's a Telepathy sphere. After touching it will be able to shortly bond with the minds of all others touching it. It's useful if you're in a room where you don't want anyone to overhear your conversation. It is also sometimes used with people who have had incurable strokes, or are paralysed and can't move their mouth. In some instances, however, you will find that there are more thoughts than you thought there were.' And then she repeats, 'have faith,' and it is signed 'Camellia'."

"Protect Harry?" Then suddenly James turned white. "How did she know his name? We haven't told anyone!"

"Is that really his name?" Sirius asked, astonished. "How could she know something like that?"

"Strange," Was all that Dumbledore said.

"Er, guys? Remember when I said she has strange habits?" Lily asked, and everyone nodded. "Well, what I really meant was, that she, well, she's Camellia Chant."

"Camellia Chant? As in one of the only known true seers in the last century?" James asked. The others also looked shocked.

"Camellia Chant, as in that lady who wrote the Seven Prophecies and then spent a decade engraving them on the side of that mountain, the volcano one? Which they later broke off and moved it to become the west wall of Gringotts?" Sirius asked, jumping up and down in excitement. "So you think you could ask her to dedicate that to me, since I'm the best friend of the father of her, what is it, great, great grand nephew? Please? I always thought that my name would look good on the bottom, you know? Right under 'through time and always, Camellia Chant'."

"Sirius!" James and Lily hissed. "Quiet, okay?"

"How interesting. I've heard of those. Also known as a T.P. Sphere." Dumbledore had that strange smile on his face, the one that you never really think about until later and then wonder whether Dumbledore knew what was going on the entire time.

"Aren't teepee's triangles? I mean cones?" Sirius asked, shaking the box.

"Give that back! You could break it!" Lily snatched it out of his grasp.

"So, she's a seer. Let's check out what this Telepathy Sphere thing is, then," James prompted, and Lily carefully unwrapped it, folding the paper. She was one of those people who saved nice wrapping paper. She had a whole box, in the garage, with little scribbling on the back, '16th birthday, from Odette Anderson', and 'Engagement, James!'

She reached into the box and pulled out a round, cold object. It looked a lot like a crystal ball, but smaller, and where there should be obscure swirling mist it was completely clear. She expected it to feel hard, but it gave a little under her touch, like a water balloon.

"Come on!" Sirius pulled them over to the sofa. "Lets all touch it!" They scooted in closer, Dumbledore on one side with James and Sirius on the other.

As they made contact with it's surface, strange warmth crept over them, and into their minds. The sphere began to glow, and soft voices began to speak in Lily's head.

_Is it working?_ that one sounded distinctly like Sirius.

_Lily, are you there?_ Obviously James.

_How fascinating._

_I'm here! _she answered, sending her voice through the small globe to the others.

_Hmph__… s__tupid drago__n… I __was trying to sleep…_ came a different voice.

Wait… weren't there only four of them there?

_Who's that?!_ They all asked at the same time.

Lily shifted her weight while Harry kicked a bit inside of her, hiccupping again . . .

* * *

Harry's POV

Harry was dreaming. He was sitting-- no, crawling around under a colossal oak tree on a bare dirt hill.

_Dang! I'm even a baby in my dreams! I can't even walk. Great, just great . . ._

Something wiggled in the grass below him.

He wriggled closer to look. _This crawling thing is way, way, harder than it looks._

It was a medium sized green snake. It looked up at him.

"Hello."

"Oh-- hi!" Harry said back, surprised that he could talk.

The bright sunlight that shone everywhere was getting into his eyes, so he followed the snake back under the shade of the oak tree.

"Took you long enough," the snake grumbled, then whipped its diamond shaped head back around. "No, wait, aren't you here a bit early?!" He shook his head in disgust. "This is entirely Gabriel and Arlene's fault! They tricked me into this! Stupid warm-blooded creatures… No offence, of course."

"Who are Gabriel and Arlene?" He asked. Baby Harry's mind took over for a second and he grabbed instinctively at the snakes tail.

"NO, NO, NO! Bad boy!" The snake hissed. "Don't touch!"

"Don't be such a grouch, Raphael. He's just a baby." said somebody else.

There was a sudden pressure on the back of his head, and he flipped over. A bird hopped onto his stomach and looked into his eyes. The bird, obviously female from the voice, looked like a strange mix between a phoenix, a hawk, and a raven. It had the long, shimmering tail and red feathers of the phoenix, with the head of a hawk and the large body and long, glossy black feathers of a raven.

"Hello, there." She said kindly. "My name is Arlene, and this is Raphael. He's only pretending to not like you. He's trying to hide the fact that he thinks you're absolutely adorable. He had this thing about babies, you see, and he thinks it ruins his reputation."

"Oh." Harry couldn't think of anything else to say. She settled down on his stomach, and he stroked her feathers clumsily with one hand. Raphael grumbled in the background.

"Who's Gabriel then?" Harry asked after a moment.

"I AM!" came a booming voice. The shade under the tree suddenly grew very hot, and there were flickers of flame in the corners of his vision. Harry looked up. In front of him, a huge flying dragon came down on the ground with a thump. His scales were pure black and an intense heat came from his mouth in burst of blue flame. Harry kicked back, and as he touched the bark of the tree trunk, he suddenly woke up--

_Who's that?_ came a chorus of voices.

_Huh? Oh me?_ Harry answered. _Well… _

* * *

Hermione's POV

Back at Hogwarts, Harry's body lay motionless. Another day of classes was over, and the Ron and Hermione sat dejectedly on either side of Harry's bed. Word had gotten out that Harry had gone catatonic, and wild speculations were spreading. Hermione squeezed Harry's hand, and, as usual, there was no response. Outside of the infirmary, footsteps approached.

Hermione listened, recognizing Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Dumbledore, I'm really getting worried. It's not just Harry, but this Death Eater business. Everyone knows that when Voldemort lies in wait, he's plotting something…"

* * *

Lily's POV

Everybody's eyes widened as the voice responded.

_Huh? Oh me? Well . . . first who are you?_

_No way, we asked you first!_ Sirius said adamantly.

_And I'm not answering!_ The voice retorted.

Lily was thinking. How _was this possible? Only the people touching the sphere would be included in the conversation. But there was nobody else in contact with the sphere!_

_It's probably alright,_ Dumbledore told them. _What was that Camellia included in her note?_

_Oh, right,_ Lily thought. _There are more thoughts than you think, or something like that._

_Yeah, maybe this is what Camellia was talking about!_ James said, excited. Lily could tell he was intrigued.

_Besides, dark magic can't be used on a Telepathy Sphere._ Dumbledore added.

In the back round, Sirius and the voice were still arguing.

_No!_

_No!_

_YOU first!_

_No, YOU!_

_Be quiet!_ James interjected.

_You'll tell us who you are if we do first?_ Lily's curiosity was stronger than her caution.

_Uh…yeah, something like that._

_I'm Lily._

_James Potter, her husband._

_Albus Dumbledore._

Silence.

_Oh, and that's Sirius, Sirius __B__lack._ James added.

_You killed it! I almost had him convinced. He would have told __us__ his name, and then I could have laughed and said, 'You there, ha! I fooled you, I did!'_ Sirius sounded disappointed.

The voice projected shock.

_That can't be! I mean__--__ how?_

_It's a Telepathy Sphere. Whoever is touching it can speak to any others touching it with telepathy. _Dumbledore explained. _The question is, how are YOU managing to speak to us, too?_

_I… __don't know. I was sleeping, until I got blasted by this dragon, and you guys started talking to me. In my dream, that is. The dragon, I mean. _

* * *

Harry's POV

Harry stalled, unsure of what to say. _Are babies supposed to have coherent thoughts?_

Fortunately, the baby half of his brain kicked in. He managed to turn the feelings of warmth and safety into thoughts, and then sent them to his parents.

_Where had Dumbledore come from anyway?__He must have shown up when I was sleeping_, the logical Harry concluded.

His mother sat up in surprise as the feelings hit her.

_It's warm… Hmmm …_ Hiccup. _Stupid hiccups, back again!_ He thought angrily.

His mother stiffened. Her voice sounded, loud.

"Uh guys- this might sound strange, but right when he said that, Harry hiccupped."

"What?" James sounded confused.

"Amazing! Fantastical! I don't get it." Sirius added, exuberantly confused.

"That would make sense, wouldn't it?" Dumbledore reasoned. "He is in contact with the sphere, just through Lily. And Camellia must have known… Ask him."

_Harry? I mean, are you… Harry? _Harry froze. What to say, what to say, what to say-

_Er, I guess so? _

* * *

Lily's POV

Lily felt a sense of exultation. I _just talked to my son… is that NORMAL?_

"The baby!" James said in awe. "That's my son!"

"That means… we can argue more, when he's born!" Sirius said, content.

Lily rolled her eyes.

Lily's hands flew to her abdomen.

"James- I think-- I think the baby's coming."


	3. Fury

* * *

Chapter Three: Fury

* * *

James's POV

James had waited with Sirius and Dumbledore for six hours now. He had been warned that the labor of first pregnancies take long-- but he didn't know how the time would drag.

A tired looking Remus and his own parents had showed up at some point.

Lily didn't have parents. The last of her family was that horrid sister, Petunia, and she hadn't shown up yet.

_She's not alone,_ he thought to himself. _She has me, and her best friend, and Sirius, and Dumbledore, and . . . Harry, too._

After Lily had made her announcement, they had all rushed around the house getting her stuff together and rushing her out of the house. They had left the sphere on the table, and later noticed upon leaving that it was gone, leaving a small pool of water. Dumbledore had given an ironic smile, and said that apparently it was disposable. Unless they got their hands on another one, they wouldn't be able to repeat the experiment again.

But then, they won't have to because they were going to have their very own Harry . . . sometime in the near future. Very near, James hoped.

He shook his head, and decided to go see how Lily was doing. He was allowed in after all, but he had come out and slept in a chair for a couple of hours with the promise that he would be woken up if they needed him.

* * *

Dumbledore's POV

He watched James leave. _This has certainly been an interesting day. _

He turned his head to his side. Sirius was sleeping, stretched out over five or six chairs, and snoring. As Dumbledore watched, he mumbled slightly in his sleep.

"But, but, we . . . first. No- you . . ."

The doors opened, and a thin woman walked tentatively into the room. She held a fat baby in her arm that, if he hadn't known for a fact that it was only three months old, he would have taken it as a year. The baby was incomprehensibly round.

"Welcome, Petunia."

Her eyes flicked up. "Who are you?"

"Albus Dumbledore, nice to meet you."

"Him? I mean you? From the letter? You're the one that taught her all of that…"

"Hmmm? Oh, yes."

"Where is she?"

"The baby is not born yet, but you could wait. Take a seat."

Her eyes flicked from Dumbledore, to Sirius, occupying half the seats, and James's parents, standing and talking to Nadine, Lily's native Tahitian best friend from Hogwarts, before talking the last available seat, over on the other side of Dumbledore. Nadine was the one who had suggested the hospital, Mystique Hôpital.

" Vernon doesn't know I'm here." Petunia said quietly. "I left a note."

Dumbledore nodded to show he understood. Fortunately for Petunia, they didn't have to wait long.

* * *

Harry's POV

He was cold again, and that was annoying. He had also been fussed over a bit before being wrapped up again and handed to the large warm hands. But he was also rewarded with the face of his mother, as she looked back down on him.

They were alone in the room now. He looked up at her face. Her bright green eyes looked right back into his. Long tumbles of red curls were hanging around them like a curtain. The baby Harry in him found that the most interesting aspect of his new mother. He was, however, wrapped up tightly, but warmly, in a snug blanket. His mother's skin was smooth, white, and unblemished. She looked young, like the pictures in the picture album. In fact there was this one picture-

_Click._

His mother looked up. James was standing there, this time with a camera. He grinned. "Can I hold him?"

She smiled. "Of course, careful, there-"

He was lifted, and set against a large broad chest that was wider than he was long. He looked up. His father's light, blue-gray eyes were studying him. "Hello there, Harry," he said softly, overcome with emotion. "I'm your Daddy . . ."

Harry snuggled deep into his blankets and his father's strong arms. He would have cried himself, but something told him that would probably ruin the moment, as they would take it he was unhappy. _How many times have I wished for a moment like this?__All my life, since I noticed how Dudley and the children in school were loved by their parents, and how I didn't have any._ He thought of the Mirror of Erised, and laughed. _I got you, Dumbledore. You said that they would never come back._

"Look! Look," James said excitedly. "He smiled!" he sat down on the edge of Lily's bed with Harry, and a soft hand reached up and stroked his face.

The door opened, and the footsteps of several people entered the room.

* * *

Lily's POV

_Her baby was finally here._

James was holding him. Harry was gorgeous, small little face with lots of pitch-black hair, baby fine. His eyes were huge and completely round, a perfect bright green, a colour which she had only ever seen in the mirror. He was just born, was he supposed to be that alert? He gazed around the room with a knowingness that surprised her.

The doctors had been a bit worried at first, when he hadn't cried, like most babies when born. He hadn't uttered a single peep since. But, as everything seemed all right, they had let him be. _He was so little! And he had these soft little cheeks, and the dark, long lashes…aww!_

The door opened, and in came the others, coming over to pat her shoulder, or squeeze her hand and congratulate her. Then they moved over to Harry.

"Look, Eston, it's our first grandchild!"

"Look at those eyes!"

Nadine swooped him up, and lapsed into French like she did when she was excited. "Il est adorable! Les cheveaux!"

She placed him in the next person's arms, which happened to be Dumbledore, before jumping up and giving Lily a huge hug. "Congratulations, Lily. I always knew you two were going to have cute kids-- even in first year!" She laughed. "Just kidding. Maybe not that early."

* * *

Dumbledore, again

Dumbledore looked, startled, at the baby that was suddenly deposited in his arms, before giving a big smile. "Well, Harry," he said, and then was at a loss for words. _Little Harry was looking up at him in . . . recognition?_ He searched the old man's face as if he knew exactly who he was, and wore a look of knowing amusement that annoyed Albus greatly; at least, now that it wasn't on his own face. _What could a little baby possible know about him? _

The child was special. There was no doubt about that. He had overheard the nurses chatting about how the baby in room 12 of the maternity ward was strange, how he hadn't cried since he was born, and had the oddest eyes. Dumbledore felt that he was here in witness of a great occasion. The birth of one Harry Potter. Harry Potter- that had a nice ring to it . . . he passed the baby on, to Ramona Potter, who was overjoyed. She and her husband, Eston, hovered over him, and Albus turned to the bed.

Petunia stepped forward. Lily's face turned serious. "Thank you for coming Petunia, it means a lot to me."

Petunia looked down at her feet. "…you're welcome, little sister." She gave a little smile, and held her baby out in front of her, like an offering.

"Is this Dudley?" Lily asked, returning the smile. Petunia nodded. "He's such a lil- a, a bundle, of, a . . ." Sirius and James snickered behind their hands, but Petunia didn't notice.

"You're right!" she exclaimed. "He's so precious, so perfect..." she droned on for a minute. Lily blinked docilely. Petunia took _ahem _'little' Dudley back. "I'll be off now, it wouldn't do for Vernon to wonder where I am, would it? Good bye, Lily." Lily took Harry again. Near the door, Petunia gasped, and stumbled back against the wall clutching Dudley, eyes wide with terror.

Hagrid swept passed her, carrying a crate of some sort. Behind his back, Petunia scampered off.

"Not bothering to see if we're all right," James mumbled to Dumbledore's left.

_Uh, oh._ Albus realized something was off. _Why would Hagrid be carrying a crate...?_

"Hello, everyone!" he announced. "Lily, James, Ramona, Eston, Dumbledore, and Nadine, wasn't it? And that's little Harry!" He stretched out his hands tentatively.

"Be careful, Hagrid," Ramona intoned, "That's my grandson there."

"Aw, I wouldn't hurt the lil' tyke!" Hagrid grinned ecstatically at Harry. "Look at 'im! He's got so much hair! And those green eyes!" Hagrid held Harry in one hand. Harry was almost, but not quite as long as Hagrid's palm with the fingers splayed.

Hagrid grinned. "You hold him, Dumbledore." He carefully gave the little baby to Dumbledore. "I brought him a gift..." He gestured to the crate. Dumbledore felt a sense of foreboding. "I got the gentlest one in the whole litter . . ."

_Bless Hagrid. But DAMN his timing!_ "What is in there, Hagrid?" he demanded.

"Just wait!" He opened the crate.

Out hopped a little creature. It was pure white, so white there were little tinges of blue. It was soft looking, with many little fluffy feathers. Like a hippogriff, the feathers melted into short fur in the middle, before becoming slender panther-like legs. At the end was a long snakelike tail with a couple feathers growing on the tip. The short fur crept up the back of the head and around long predator-like eyes, before reaching a hooked hawk beak at the end of the slender head. Short curving wings lay against it's sides, and it had catlike front paws with wicked looking talons. It was one of the most beautiful creatures any of them had seen, but it had an overall predatory look, from the beak, the claws and the slitted eagle eyes.

"It's a baby Gryphon!" Hagrid announced. "I had to go all the way to the Issedonian Mountain Range, the last ones live there."

Silence.

"Er, a Gryphon? Aren't those … illegal?" James said finally.

"Naw, looked in all the books. Not illegal-- just rare, and secretive, most of them are wild and hard to catch. This ones mother is bonded with a human; they do that sometimes. He let me take this lil' one because I'm part of the 'Against Prejudicing of Strange Creatures' mailing list, and he trusts me. I told him I'd get her a nice home. Ain't she wonderful?"

"Eeeeeeek!" Ramona Potter shrieked. The little Gryphon had jumped on her, and was attempting to remove her gold watch. Eston wrestled it off, but the Gryphon had the expensive watch, and he wasn't giving it up.

"Oh, yea, there is that. They like gold, and I wouldn't advise having her around any horses, either."

"That thing is not coming near my grandson!" Ramona started toward the bed, but it was too late. The Gryphon was sniffing at Harry. It delicately laid the gold bracelet at his bedside, and sat down.

"She's harmless!" Hagrid said stubbornly. "And look! She seems to have taken to Harry!"

Lily drew back. "What if it hurts my baby? Look at those talons!" Her eyes hardened resolutely. "I'm not letting it stay."

Hagrid looked crestfallen. "But--"

"No buts, Hagrid." James told him firmly.

"Come on..." Hagrid beckoned to the little Gryphon. She stayed. He walked over and gently picked her up, carried her back and attempted to lower her into the crate.

"CCCHRAWK!" The little Gryphon howled, clawed at Hagrid, and promptly disappeared under the bed.

_Oh just great. And animals aren't allowed in the Maternity Ward__--_

"Was that an ANIMAL I just heard?" A large severe looking nurse stood in the doorway. "It explicitly states in rule twenty three that no inhuman creatures, or hybrids of any kind are allowed, including elves, pixies--"

"No animal," Dumbledore interrupted smoothly. "That was me. Hagrid here," he motioned to the large man, "Trod on my foot is all."

She turned her gaze to Hagrid, who had to stoop so his head wouldn't hit the ceiling. "Ah, I see." She said understandingly. "From now on, please try to keep the noise level _down._ People are sleeping, and it wouldn't do to wake the babies up."

"And you..." she turned to Hagrid. "I beg you to be more careful in the future. What if this man had been holding a baby? He might have dropped--"

Harry gurgled, making his first sound ever. Every one in the room turned around to look. The nurse looked over.

"Congratulations," she told Lily, "You have a beautiful baby." And she disappeared through the door.

Hagrid winced. "Thanks, Harry." He bent down. "Now for little Fury, here."

"Fury?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "You wanted to give my infant an animal called--" she stopped in mid sentence. Her eyes suddenly unfocused.

"Lily?" James asked, but she didn't respond.

"Ahh…" Lily said softly. She paused, and then continued in a singsong voice. "Someone's going to die..."

There was quiet in the room, and everybody looked at one another. Then voices from outside broke the silence.

"_NOOO! NOT MONICA! SHE CAN'T BE DEAD! CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING?" _Someone was wailing in the hall.

"No one can revive the dead. I'm so very sorry, honey."

"_NOT HER AND THE BABY!"_

The same nurse appeared in the door. "Excuse me. Visiting hours are over. All but the mother and child must leave. Please remove yourself immediately." She was gone.

"What just happened?" James asked, gripping Lily's shoulder. She blinked. "I . . . I don't know. I just had to say it, get it out of me. And I got an image, an image of a hand and a paintbrush, and a painting."

"Maybe you have some seeing ability, like your great aunt." Dumbledore said softly. _That would be interesting …_

"It's never happened before." Lily told him solemnly.

"Write a prophecy on the side of a mountain and dedicate it to me!" Sirius said hopefully. "Please! Maybe they'll built a Quidditch stadium out of it, and they can do The World Cup in there and everybody will say, 'Look, Sirius Black! Wha--"

"_What_ did I say? Please remove yourself immediately!" The severe nurse was back.

Grumbling, and promising to return as soon as possible, the crowd left the room, and the Maternity Ward. They headed over to the Public Apparating Room and Floo Network Fire. Just as James picked up the first pinch, someone came stumbling out of the huge fireplace.

Seeing James, the person gave him an enthusiastic half hug, resulting in James dropping the Floo powder all over himself.

"James! Am I late?"

"Samantha! So you got my owl! Weren't you in New York, with that Jerry what-sis guy?"

"Oh, we broke up." She shrugged.

So, that's what had become of Samantha Potter. Albus hadn't seen her since her seventh year, though he had heard of her being around. She had always been two years younger than James, and a bit of a flirt.

"So, what happened?"

"And we have a new generation of Potters! Your nephew, Harry Potter, was just born about an hour ago. Visiting hours are over, and they kicked us out."

"Oh." She frowned, disappointed.

"But, we're all going over to my house, to talk. Why don't you stay with me, and we'll go back tomorrow?"

"Perfect!" She grinned. Picking some Floo Powder off James' shirt, she tossed it in the fire, shouting, "The Potter Mansion!" before jumping in. The others followed suit.

Upon arriving, James turned to his friends, about to propose having a celebratory drink, when he was disturbed by an intense presence from the doorway.

"_No!"_ A woman ran into the room. "_Go back!"_

"WHAT?" James blinked. "Hey, what the hell are you doing in my house?"

"I'm Camellia Chant." She said quickly as he reached for his wand.

Sirius jumped over. "Could I ask you one small favour...?"

"No time! Lily's in trouble!" She said urgently.

"Lily's in trouble?" James gasped, understanding. "Everybody back!"

He turned around and scrabbled on the mantelpiece for the porcelain vase of Floo, managing to drop it on the brick and break it into a million pieces, sending up a cloud of Floo Powder. It drifted through the room, and everybody coughed. The fire, however, turned green.

"Mystique Hôpital!" James shouted. Samantha grabbed the back of his shirt, and Hagrid grabbed her arm. Ever other single person managed to get a hold on Hagrid, somewhere or another, and they all got pulled through the fireplace together, landing in a jumbled heap on the other side.

"A-HEM!" someone cleared their throat. They winced and looked up. The severe looking nurse was looking down on them, severely. "Visiting hours are _over_! And it states explicitly in rule three of the Floo Network registration contract that only _one_ person may enter or depart from the designated fireplace . . ."

"No time!" Camellia repeated desperately.

"Lily's in trouble!" James jumped up and the others followed. Hagrid casually picked up the nurse and placed her to the side. They ran past, the nurse stood stunned for a second before following.

They found room '12, Potter' and opened it.

The scene that greeted them was thus: The window on the far side was broken, and shards of glass littered the floor. On the bed, Lily was obviously 'petrificus totalus'ed in the middle of springing up. Harry was awake, green eyes wide. He opened his mouth and WAILED. It was the loudest, shrieking noise they had ever heard; there was anger in it, and fear too, for on the floor was a black robed man, masked, being torn to shreds by …

"Fury!" Hagrid exclaimed, "We forgot her!" No one could hear him, however, because they had their hands pressed over their ears, eyes squeezed shut and teeth gritted from the volume and the pain involved with Harry's cry.

With Lily's premonition and Monica's death they had forgotten all about the little ferocious Gryphon under the bed.

Then the screaming stopped, and Fury stepped back from her victim, who was bleeding from multiple cuts to the chest. He was also unconscious. Apparently, he had been too preoccupied with his hands to shut his ears.

Fury jumped back, and then leaped up into Harry's little plastic crib. She snuggled down by Harry's side, who twined his little fingers into her fur, and they abruptly fell asleep together.

Five Aurors burst into the room, and one of them stopped next to Lily, saying, "Finite Incantatem!" She sagged down gratefully.

One of the Aurors pulled the mask off of the unconscious Deatheater.

"It's Nott!" he exclaimed. The Deatheater was levitated away, and the Aurors set about asking questions and putting everything right.

Lily looked over the hubbub and locked eyes with Albus. Her gaze swept over the others. Then she looked at her son, sleeping with the soft little animal, with talons now curled in and soft feathers puffed up all over the place, who had just saved his life.

"Looks as if Fury's bonded with Harry!" Hagrid commented.

Lily nodded. She sighed, and tucked the chain of a golden medallion under her shirt where the gold seeking animal would never find it.

"Looks like Fury's staying."


	4. The Mahogany Table

What He Never Had

By Jezaray

* * *

Chapter Three: The Mahogany Table

* * *

Harry's POV

His father was carrying him around to the back of the car, and strange as it sounds, Harry was actually getting used to the situation. His fingers were short and stubby, his arms and legs were weak and difficult to move, not that he had any chance to, the nurses in the hospital had wrapped him up like a burrito. In conclusion he could barely move, he was too small to crawl or walk, and his transportation was in the arms of his parents. The whole world was huge, he could barely recognize the car for being a car, it looked like the side of a metal wall.

Lily was in the passenger seat already, and James opened up the back car door and placed Harry into a new infant car seat. The rumbling of the car started, and his mother put her head on the side of her seat.

"We're finally going home, Harry! Rules about release from the hospital, honestly."

There was a screech of tires.

"Drive Carefully, honey!" she told James, and rolled down the window. _"HEY! Watch where you're going, Bitch! There's a baby in the back seat!"_

This was definitely an aspect of Lily Harry had never seen. And from Dad's face, neither had he.

"I won't have anybody jeopardizing my baby." She said stubbornly.

"Just remember, this was your idea." He said.

They had a car, apparently for visiting muggle friends of Lily's, and she had insisted that they drive home. There was something that tickled her about the phrase, 'baby's first drive home'.

The drove up a long, smooth driveway, and Harry anxiously tried to get a good view of his new home.

_So we don't live in Godric's Hollow, then._ The words ' Potter Mansion', were meant literally. According to his father's ongoing narrative the elder Potters had bequeathed the Potter Mansion to James and his family when Harry's grandparents had come into the sudden possession of a luxurious beach house in Tahiti.

They stopped the car, and Harry was lifted from his seat. Over James' shoulder, the ground terribly far away. _At least I don't have a fear of heights._

Sirius was waiting in the living room, just beyond the front hall.

The air was charmed at just the right temperature. The walls were a creamy white, and the carpet was shaggy and deep red. On the far wall was a large fireplace, complete with replaced porcelain vase, and a low table with a telephone and pensieve. Across were a loveseat, an armchair, and two sofas all in black arranged in a half circle. Pictures and moving portraits covered the walls. Besides the door they just came through, there were two others, one on either side of room. Nearer to them was a large mahogany table, and there were several bookshelves, holding an unimaginable amount of strange magical objects. The whole room had a smell of flowers, but as Harry didn't have much experience in what certain flowers smell like he couldn't pinpoint it.

He looked down, where five house elves had materialized. One had a hand on Fury, newly washed, scrubbed and brushed, and smelling of flowers as well.

**_Harry!_**

_There you are, Fury._

**_I missed you. The short, edible looking ones tortured me, and I now have lost my scent. Do you think it's permanent?_**

_Please believe me when I say they taste bad, Fury._

**_Can I growl?_**

_Yes._

She jumped up, bowling over three house elves in the process.

They scrambled to their feet. "Master Potter, may we be seeing the young master?"

"This, little friends, is Harry Potter." James told them, kneeling.

"Harry Potter!" Their little eyes bugged. "Little Master!"

Harry pictured Hermione in his mind's eye. Her face held a decidedly homicidal look.

However, the house elves were overjoyed to have a new master. They leapt up and down in excitement, red robe uniforms billowing out.

Dad wrapped one of Harry's limp, tiny, hands in his own. He pointed at the first house elf, "That's Patty," the next, "and Lotta, and Cookie, Griffy," and the last, with an enormously big nose, "Grumps."

Harry smiled at them, showing his toothless gums.

"He is liking us, Master James." Griffy said happily.

Lily took Harry, back, cradling him in her arms. She yawned wearily.

The house elves jumped to attention. "You will be having a nice nap now, Mistress Lily?" Grumps grabbed her hand.

_CRACK_

Suddenly Lily, Harry, and the house elves were all in a spacious bedroom with a king four-poster bed with velvet drapes drawn around it. Everything was white or light blue, but it was too dark to see much. They laid Harry down in a crib to the side of the bed and left quietly through the door.

Exhausted, Lily soon fell asleep.

Harry was annoyed. _Are these rules, or something? When she fells cold, I get wrapped up more, when she is tired, I have to sleep, _Harry thought, and spent the next half an hour staring at the ceiling.

Something moved in the darkness. Harry peeked between the bars of the crib. _Looks like I'm rescued! _

The dog quickly transformed into Sirius, and stood over Harry. Seeing his godson look up at him, Sirius grinned.

"_Hello there,_" he said in a hushed voice.

Harry took a deep breath and opened his mouth, as if to wail. Sirius took a quick step back, looking in panic at Lily's sleeping form on the bed.

When Sirius stepped forward again, Harry grinned widely.

"You did that on purpose!" Sirius accused. "What are you doing, trying to get me _killed?_"

He picked Harry up and took him down into a wide hallway, which came upon a grand staircase, down to another wide hall, a small staircase at the end of _that_, and through a couple of strange, interlinked rooms, before coming upon the front hall. Reentering the living room, Fury followed at Sirius' heels. _My, this place is confusing._

Sirius settled down on the sofa, and held Harry at arms length in front of him.

"I still think I was right." He commented.

_So that's what this was all about! … He's not getting away with it. _Harry gave Sirius the evil eye, and waved his fists angrily.

Sirius's eyes narrowed. "_We_ asked you first, there for _you_ should have answered _us_ first!"

Harry waved his firsts in denial.

"_You_ should have!" "No you!" "Nuh-uh!" "No!" "No" "NO!" " No WAY!" Sirius reasoned with the fists.

Harry changed tactics. He opened as wide as possible, and gave Sirius the biggest _'I'm so cute and innocent!'_ look he could muster.

Sirius stopped, startled. "All right, you win."

Harry gave him a grin. _Haha, fooled you!_

"That's no fair, you cheated!"

Harry shook his head. Sirius let out a sigh of frustration and flopped down on the sofa, his head thrown back over the armrest.

The door opened, and Samantha walked in. "_SIRIUS!_ You better not by sleeping on the job while babysitting _my_ nephew!"

Sirius sat up. "I'm not. We were arguing."

She looked at the infant on the sofa. "That's not a very fair argument, is it?"

"You're right it isn't. He won." Sirius looked downcast.

"Sirius- that's just sad." She disappeared through another door, with a kitchen beyond through it, long black hair floating behind her, so straight it looked almost fluid.

Sirius held Harry up next to him. "You're right Harry, she _is_ hot."

_I see what's going on..._

Sirius sighed. "She's changed so much since we were in school..." he said wistfully. He was looking at Harry, so he didn't see Samantha lean into the room slightly.

But Harry did.

He chortled, amused.

Patty the House elf came merrily in. "Sirius? Mistress Samantha? Master James is having a meeting with the kind Aurors, and Mistress Lily is sleeping. Hagrid is waiting in the front hall, should humble Patty be bringing him in here?"

"Hagrid! I haven't seen him in _years._" Samantha popped out of the kitchen. "Let him in." She scooped Harry up and dropped into the armchair. "Hey there, little guy." she cooed.

"I brought another gift fer Harry!" Hagrid announced.

Samantha shot to her feet. "What is it?" she wondered anxiously.

"Oh, nothin' to worry about. Look, I got this pretty collar in Diagon Alley."

She stared blankly. "You got Harry… a collar."

"Brilliant!" Sirius piped from the couch.

"It's for Fury. Isn't it pretty? I knew she'd like it, cause it's gold. But it's charmed, too!" It was a chain of large round links attached to square loops of leather. Each leather pieces had a pretty green gem. "See, if you put it on her neck the other way around, so the gems are on the inside, it turns her invisible, just in case she isn't supposed to be there. It also transfigures anything she ruins and leaves behind, so nobody will get mad at her." He looked pleased with himself.

"So Harry will be able to get away with anything when it comes too her. Nice..." Sirius nodded in appreciation.

Samantha looked unsure.

Hagrid spotted Fury under their antique table and grabbed her gently, attaching the chain. She eyed it.

"It's also charmed not to break." He added. It shone in the rays of sunlight coming from the far windows.

**_Pretty..._** Fury thought.

_It looks good on you, _Harry told her.

"I must be off then… give my regards to Lily and James. I was just stopping by. I'm on my way to Beauxbatons to pick up some magic mirror for Dumbledore." He walked a way through the front hall, and they could hear his voice echoing back. _"Maybe I shouldn'ta said that..."_

Fury strutted around the room, and hopped on the antique table. Her talons gouged deep, leaving claw marks.

"Uh, oh." Sirius said.

Samantha looked up. "You do know that's a family heirloom, right?"

There was a flash of light, and in the place of the table was now a shiny, red go-cart, complete with little white Gryphons painted down the sides.

_Er,_ Harry thought. _What?_

They stared, dumbfounded. "Hagrid said was that it transfigured when wrecked." Sirius pointed out. "We just _assumed_ that it would revert to its original state." he said, amused.

"Well don't tell James." Samantha said. "He'll blow a fuse."

Foots steps echoed in the hall.

"Hide it!" she hissed urgently, and Sirius leapt up, shoving it behind the sofa.

Harry started feeling sleepy, and everything became heavy and blurry. Samantha pulled Sirius into the hall, where they stood with innocent looks on their faces.

Harry slipped off into dreamland.

* * *

_Harry's dream… _

A woman with brown hair and several wide streaks of gray lay exhaustedly on a lumpy couch that looked vaguely like a sleeping animal. In her arms was an infant with red fuzz covering it's scalp.

She lovingly touched her daughter's thin curls. "Who would've thought that your hair would get this red? Must be some relatives from your father's side…"

The doorbell rung, and a moment later a skinny little blond girl came hurtling into the room. "Mommy, there are some strange people at the door and they're asking about Lily!"

The woman got to her feet and lumbered to the front door. "Can I help-"

She stopped in mid sentence; there were two men and one woman at the door. They wore long white robes and their faces were blank and unemotional, their features curiously even. The woman's hair was long and dark, and the men had short and neatly trimmed beards. The woman looked into her eyes, and she felt her self drifting away... and then everything snapped back in place.

"-you?" she finished.

She paused in thought, confused. _Hadn't the woman been standing in the middle before? Why is Lily on my left arm- wasn't she on my right before? I don't remember shifting her over._

One of the men looked up at her. "You may keep the baby." He opened her fist and placed something on her palm, closing her fingers around it.

She opened her hand and looked at it.

"This is a gift for your daughter." It was a medallion on a long gold chain.

The woman looked up. "What..?" she asked, disoriented, but they were gone.

She shrugged, pocketing the medallion, and walked inside.

"Where were you, Mom? What were you talking to them about?" The little girl asked.

"What do you mean, Petunia?" The woman inquired. "I was only out there for a minute. They just wanted to give Lily a gift."

She sat down on the couch, snuggling with her baby. "Mommy loves you! Yes she does… you're so precious…" she murmured.

In the background, the small blond girl watched, her eyes sharp with intelligence... and resentment. Near her feet, something moved, snakelike…

* * *

Harry's POV

He was slowly drifting awake. A thought came to him- the medallion in his dream was the same one Lily had been wearing. She had hidden it from Fury because of the gold…

A shout suddenly echoed through the house, jolting him to attention.

"_WHERE'S MY BABY?_"

"Uh, oh." Sirius said softly. He was standing with James and Samantha, who was holding Harry, in the front hall.

"You took Harry without asking?" Samantha asked. Sirius nodded meekly. "Oh, you are in _deep shit._"

Harry giggled, and Sirius glared at him. "Well I'm glad _you're _amused." he muttered.

"It's okay, Lily, I got him!" Samantha called up the stairs.

Lily came storming into the room, clothes wrinkled, looking disoriented. She grabbed Harry and hugged him to herself.

"Sirius took him." Samantha supplied helpfully.

Lily turned on Sirius. "Don't _ever_ scare me like that, _ever_ again, Sirius Black! I thought he had been _stolen!_" He cowered as she advanced.

"That's not going to happen, Lily." James assured her. "I've been having a meeting with the Aurors. They had questioned Nott under Veritaserum, and confessed of failing Voldemort in a mission, and he was to be executed. He knew Voldemort wanted our baby so he tried to compensate by stealing Harry before we could get him behind wards." He hugged her. "Nobody will be able to get to him again. They're out there putting up wards as we speak."

"Oh. That _is_ nice." Lily commented. She still looked bewildered.

"Are you okay, Lily?" Samantha asked her.

"I had a weird dream . . ." She swayed a bit and James steadied her. "There were people in white robes, and my mother was there, and a little girl who looked like Petunia . . ."

_I dreamed that,_ Harry realized. _How could Mom have seen the same thing? Was it a premonition, or something?_ It couldn't be, it was definitely in the past. _And at the end_, Harry thought, _I saw the snake, Raphael. What was he doing there?_

"I'll get you a glass of water." James walked off.

"Has anyone seen auntie Camellia?" Lily asked abruptly.

"Not since two days ago." Sirius told her regretfully. "She disappeared as the Aurors were leaving at the hospital. She said she'd be back, but she didn't say when."

"Oh," she looked disappointed. "I was hoping I could ask her about my premonition. When she shows up, tell her to come to me."

There was a sound of breaking glass from another room, it sounded like James had dropped a water glass.

"Hey, what happened to Grandma's mahogany table?"


	5. Harry's Scar

What He Never Had

By Jezaray (formerly JeZeBeL)

* * *

Chapter Four: Harry's Scar

* * *

Camellia's POV

In the middle of the night, Lily Potter slept soundly, with her newborn son Harry sleeping by her side. Lily stirred, slipping her arm instinctively around Harry's sleeping form. Camellia had seen her husband on the couch downstairs; she supposed Lily had kicked him out so that there would be room for Harry. This was a good thing, for in the light of the soft moonlight filtering through the window, the two of the glowed together, a pale yet brilliant green. A blue moon, Camellia thought, and confirmed, looking out the window.

She then sat down quietly on the bedside, and reached over. Tugging slightly on the chain around her grand-niece's neck, she revealed a small, round, flat stone on the end. The stone was clear, with a black sphere the size of a pupil in the middle. Under that was another, smaller black dot. Camellia shook it, waiting for a reaction, but none came. All right, it must be Harry, then, she thought.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out a similar medallion, except this one was more oblong, a teardrop shape. She slipped it around the baby's thin neck. The stone suddenly glowed with green light, and the smallest black dot moved around the other in a counterclockwise direction, stopping directly above it. A small smile appeared on Camellia's face, ad she touched the stone to her forehead. Slowly, she slumped over.

* * *

Harry's POV/ in Harry's dream

He was back under the tree, and the dragon was considerably smaller this time, and he wasn't breathing fire. "Sorry I scared you, little one. I'm Gabriel," the dragon said to him in a totally casual tone of voice.

"He was trying to show off." Arlene said wryly. Gabriel glared at her.

Harry suddenly realized Raphael was wrapped around one of his arms, as the snake unwound himself. "What were you doing there? Where are we? Why am I here?" he demanded.

"Perhaps I can answer that," came a voice from behind him. He turned around.

"Who are you!"

"I'm your great, great aunt Camellia. Alas, those greats just keep getting longer, and longer!" She climbed toward him, and three animals climbed up after her; a unicorn, a large salamander, and graceful white pelican. "I was there on the day you were born, and I'll be staying at your house for a while."

"Okay, what are you doing _here?"_

She laughed. "Yes, I am really truly here. I came to visit you in your mind. I thought I might help explain." She turned to the others. "You _were_ going to tell him, weren't you?"

They grumbled, and nodded grudgingly.

"So, as for where we are, we're in your mind. And these are you."

"What?" Harry didn't get it.

"Let me clarify. This is all an illusion. This is how your subconscious decided to represent us. Everything here is symbolic."

"Okay."

"For instance, the hill we are on right now represents your physical body. The tree is your subconscious, you are the conscious part of your mind. I am me, when really, I'm back in the real world."

"Got it." _I suppose it kind of makes sense . . . never mind, I lost it._ "And the others?"

"Well, that's a condition that Lily inherited from me and her grandmother, my sister, and she passed on to you. Us, instead of just having a subconscious and a conscious, we have five awarenesses, it has to do with me being a seer. The animals are representing parts of your mind. The phoenix-raven is your future awareness, the snake is your past awareness, and the dragon represents your all awareness. Just like my pelican, salamander, and the unicorn, here."

"Right, so what do the awarenesses do?"

"The past is aware of anything is your past, and if you tune in on it, you can view everything that's ever happened. That's probably too hard for you; it's kind of complicated. You might learn it in a couple decades, though. Right now it'll only work if prompted by somebody else. The future works in the same way. And the All Awareness, which is also known as the present, is aware of what is going on all over the world right now." She smiled. "When people like us get together, we can do remarkable things. If thirteen people who have past and future awarenesses work together at the same time, they can draw a person into the past or future. That's what happened, in your case. Me and eleven others like us, in the future, sent you back."

"Oh..." Harry said, then did the math. "Wait, eleven and one makes twelve, didn't you say it takes thirteen to move someone through time?"

"The thirteenth was you, actually. It was done without you being aware of it."

Raphael looked down sheepishly. "I told you, they talked me into it!"

Harry laid his head down. "Betrayed! By my own conscious!" he wailed dramatically.

"Oh, shut up." Raphael slithered away.

* * *

Camellia's POV

A hand grabbed at her upper arm. She opened her eyes, and looked right into the startled gaze of her great-niece.

"Auntie Camellia! What are you doing here?" The glowing had stopped.

"Just a gift." She showed the medallion around Harry's neck. The dot had swiveled back to it's original spot, signifying that he was back to a normal slumber.

Lily's hand flew to her throat. "We're you the one who gave me this, when I was little?"

"No, but I sent it."

"Oh. All my life, I've wondered. Thank you, I like it."

Camellia stood up.

"Wait, I have a couple questions..." Lily started.

"In the morning. I will be here." She withdrew herself to the shadows, and waited until Lily had fallen into a fitful sleep before she left.

Harry would understand, and come to terms with his new knowledge. He'd be fine.

* * *

Harry's POV

He opened his eyes. Rays of sunlight shone through a prism-like window near the ceiling, and the room was covered with little rainbows and light reflections. It was quite beautiful.

His mother was up, and she grabbed some clothes and walked into the adjoining bathroom.

The door opened, lowly and soundlessly. Camellia walked in. Seeing his eyes on hers, she put on finger over her lips. Harry nodded. She plodded across the room, and picked him up, laying him on her shoulder and started to walk away.

"A-HEM!"

They stopped. Lily was dressed and stood in the doorway. "Exactly where do you think you're going?"

Camellia turned and looked her in the eyes. They had the same emerald green eyes, except Camellia's was framed by pure white locks, and Lily's were red. "Do you trust me?" she asked.

"Trust you? Of course I do! But that doesn't mean you can just walk off with my baby without telling me."

"No, I mean, do you REALLY trust me?"

"I suppose so, why?"

"Just answer the question. You have to be positive."

"I trust you."

"Good. If you come with me, will you trust me enough not to interfere, no matter what happens?"

"Sure."

Camellia nodded. "Does this place have a basement down there?"

"It's built over the ruins of a medieval castle. There are the dungeons, if that's what you're asking."

"Perfect. Lead the way."

"Fine." Lily beckoned, and they started another long trek through the house. "Most people have trouble finding their way around here, you know. There are so many rooms, and most of them only have a couple doors. It's like a maze, there's only one correct way to get to each room. To find the room right next to the bedroom, for example, you would have to go down a couple floors, take the door left when you come into the old armory, through the extra guest rooms, climb out the window in the last room take the stairs spiraling clockwise up two floors and walk through the door backwards. If you don't walk through backwards, you'll find yourself in the oven downstairs, and you'll have to climb up all over again. Which also wouldn't be good if you happen to be baking at the time. Needless to say, we don't use that room very much."

She tapped the foot of an old lady in a portrait, and the wall slid away, revealing a dark damp stone staircase that twisted ominously downward, changing directions every once and a while. "Took me a while to figure everything out. I still get lost! Believe me, you don't want the grand tour, last time it took days, and I ended up under the sink twice!"

Lily pulled a wand out of her pocket. "Lumos!"

They crept quietly through the dungeons. The bars on countless cells were on either side, and still she led them deeper. At last, she stopped. "Good enough? I think James said something like the medieval Potters were taking over the surrounding towns, and at one point the dungeons were so full the just put a never-ending spell on it... they're not quite never-ending, but you could walk under the Mansion for days."

"Good enough." Camellia nodded with satisfaction. She gave Harry to his Mother and sat down. She pulled a small bag from her pocket. Camellia then took out some wood and lit a fire, the muggle way. "This is an elven protection spell I got from my sister's husband's mother. She didn't have a daughter to pass it on to, so she gave it to me. She was your great, great, great grandmother, I believe. Something like that."

"For Harry?"

Camellia nodded. "Turn your light off,"

"Will he NEED elven protection? Nox."

"He might," Camellia said in a low voice.

_Well,_ Harry thought, _I knew that already._

Once the fire was burning, she tossed a couple herbs in, and then a fine powder. The fire blazed white, letting off a strange purple glow. She took out some candles and lit them from the fire, placing them in a circle around them. The flickered, as if there was a great wind, but the air underground was totally and completely still. She chanted softly in an unknown language, which was so strange they almost understood it. It involved lots fluttering of the tongue.

"Take out your medallion." Camellia ordered softly. When Lily had done so, she pulled out Harry's and her own, an hourglass shaped one, with black dots on the bottom half. They burst into the same white/purple glow as the fire. On Camellia's the smaller dot moved up and merged with the higher one. She pulled a silver branch, and stuck it in the fire. The she gave Lily a meaningful look.

Moving quickly, she pulled the silver colored branch out of the fire, and while it still glowed, grasping Harry's head firmly, drew a jagged line down his forehead.

And DAMN it hurt. The branch burned deep into his skin, leaved a charred trail behind. He gritted his teeth. All at the same time, the fire and every candle in the room turned off, sending them into darkness.

"Harry . . ." his mother said weakly.

"He'll be fine. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was elven magic. A little too fancy and ceremonial for my tastes, but it works." She stood and briskly started to clean up the various objects.

"Lumos." His mother lifted her wand to look at him.

"Hey! There's no mark!"

* * *

James's POV

_Where was Lily, anyway?_ She said she would be down soon, but he had been waiting with Sirius, who had showed up early, and Samantha, who had slept in her old room. She had found it terribly amusing that he had been kicked onto the couch. Lily insisted it would be safer, or should he say more assuring for her if he slept in the bed. But then there was no room for James . . . so he had slept on the couch.

The doorbell rang, and one of the house elves, Griffy this time, hopped in.

"The nicely mister Peter is here to see you!" he announced proudly.

"Let him in."

Peter came waddling, _no walking, it's not nice to think of your friends that way. Lily would had a fit._ So anyway, Peter 'came' in.

"Hello James! How's Little Harry, I've heard so much about him from Hagrid."

"Oh, he's around here somewhere. In fact, here they come now."

Lily came walking in, holding Harry and looking a bit dazed, followed by Camellia. _When did she arrive, anyway?_

Peter took a step toward them, a huge smile on his face, but as soon as Harry laid his eyes on him, he SCREECHED. It was only the second time James had seen his son cry, at all, and it had the same effect as the first time. Everybody pressed their hands over their ears, but the sound went passed that, and pounded in their heads, permeating every single thought. And it hurt. Like hell it hurt. Lily was the only one not really affected, and she carried him to the other room. Everybody stood there, blinking, and rubbing his or her temples in agony.

"Wow, if I didn't know any better, I'd think he despised me!" Peter announced, rubbing his upper arm with one hand.


	6. Root Imps

* * *

Chapter Five: Root Imps

* * *

Harry's POV

_The rat! He's here! In MY house! Pretending to be a friend! Even if he's not evil yet, he has, lets see, a little more over a year before he betrays my parents. _

Lily rubbed her hand in a soothing circular motion over his back. "Hush baby... its okay, everything is alright..."

_Oh. I suppose I'm worrying her._ Harry stopped crying, and they went for a short walk down the hall. James was waiting for them when they returned. "Peter left a couple of minutes ago. He said had an appointment to get to. Everything all right?"

Lily nodded.

"Anyway, I was telling him about our mahogany table, remember it? It used to be in the living room. Guess what, it's completely gone. I searched everywhere. Every time I ask, the room goes quiet. They know more than they're telling. You wouldn't possibly know anything about that, would you?"

She paused. "Nope. Haven't seen it. Come on, let's go." She gestured with her hand for him to go through the door.

He backed up quickly. "No, no, no, you go first."

She looked at him, suspicious, and cautiously stepped through the door.

"SURPRISE!" roared the room.

The room they had left almost empty a few minutes earlier, was now filled with people. Party decorations had magically appeared in every corner, and a long bright banner with flashing colors was stretched across the room, 'Welcome, Harry!'

"It's a surprise baby shower." James said softly in her ear.

"Wow! I was really surprised! Thanks Love." She gave him a one armed hug.

_A baby shower... for me! What? _Harry thought. _ Hey there's Mrs. Weasley! What's she doing here? She could be a friend of Mom, I suppose... oh merlin, that's Ron!_ Mrs. Weasley was carrying a miniature Ron look-alike, complete with smudge on nose, and near her feet bobbed two identical heads, covered with bright read tufts of hair. Harry looked closer_. I wonder if they're just as bad at age two... what's that expression again? Terrible twos, that's it... _

"Okay, all guys out." Mrs. Weasley announced gleefully.

James frowned. "Hey, that's not fair-"

"Very fair. Tradition, you see. No men allowed at baby showers." Lily grinned at him.

Samantha walked by, tugging Sirius out of the room. "Get out, you big oaf- help!" She yelped as Sirius grabbed her forearm and pulled her out of the room. Harry snickered very un-baby-like as he watched them leave over his mothers shoulder.

After the men left, a large blanket was spread out on the floor, and the younger ones set aside, while the women gathered around. Which was extremely annoying. _Whose party is this, anyway? The banner says HARRY on it, obviously you've all forgotten who that is... _

"Look, I found a go-cart!" Nadine called from the corner.

"Maybe it's a gift for Harry, you know, in a couple of years. Nice dragons, or whatever those are. Hey! Who's present is the go-cart?" Lily called out to the room. They looked on in silence. "Okay. Must've been one of the guys. Probably Sirius. a go-cart, honestly." And with that, James's grandmother's priceless heirloom mahogany table/go-cart was put with the other presents.

_Oh. Well now it's my priceless mahogany table, uh, go-cart. _

"Look." Fred, er, George, was standing over him suddenly.

"Baby." George explained to his brother. "Ooh, look, knut!" he picked up a coin near Harry's foot. The other one looked speculatively at Harry.

"Maybe." The first one agreed.

_Wait, what?! _Harry was concerned.

Fred lifted Harry under the arms, and he walked off, Harry and George in tow.

_Wait just a second! _Harry protested, squirming, but Fred didn't loosen his hold, Harry was helpless.

George opened the door for him, and they left, silent and unnoticed. _Hmm. This is probably a really bad idea, _Harry noted.

They wandered for a while, before Fred got tired of dragging Harry, and they took the next door. It was a bathroom. The waddled in, preparing to settle down on the floor. Suddenly, as they stood next to the bathtub, it sunk in the floor, revealing a slide.

"Slide!" George exclaimed, pointing.

_Why is there a SLIDE in the bathroom?_ Harry wondered, bewildered.

The three of them approached the slide, and sat down, pushing off.

A guest could, of course, be taking a shower, and then. WHOOSH! The floor disappears, sending you...

They tumbled down, landing on the grass in the middle of the back lawn. _Hey! That's no way to treat a guest! Though there is some humor in it, I suppose . . ._

"Look!" Fred/George pointed. Near them was a huge oak tree, similar to Harry's dream illusion one. Among the roots scrambled multitudes of little people, carrying little bags, on the move. They looked suspiciously like a picture Harry had once seen in Lockhart's defense against the darks arts class, of imps. _Root imps, to be specific, pesky little mischievous people, who got into everything, and also can be territorially ferocious when protecting their home and kin . . . _

"Roo Ims!" Harry exclaimed.

_Wait, 'Harry exclaimed' . . .?_ He clapped his hand over his mouth. _I didn't know I could talk! I'm supposed to be a baby! _His words had been slurred by his gumless mouth, but since he knew the words and how to pronounce them he somehow managed to mumble something recognizable.

But it was too late, he had attracted the Root Imps' attentions, and all their little faces were now pointed toward him. Swiftly making the situation worse, Fred grabbed a root imp in his fist and scampered back up the slide, pushing Harry up in front of himself. _Help! I'm being abused . . . crap!_

Thousands upon thousands of root imps were pouring forth from the bathtub, tumbling over the rim, and passing Harry by, rushing into the house. Fred dropped his imp, who disappeared among the others. Little feet scampered all over Harry in the rush to explore the new land.

_That's not good._

* * *

Down in the kitchen-

Hollow thumping noises were coming from the oven, and a muffled voice suddenly accompanied them.

"What did you say? 'Wait, don't-' . . .what? Don't what? Hey, Samantha, where am I? Where's this hidden room you were talking about? Samantha, that's not fair! Hey? Hey! Anybody . . ."

Sirius was stuck in a very small, dark box, and nobody seemed to be able hear him.

"Now I'm pissed off!" Sirius slammed his fist against the floor.

* * *

James's POV

_After organizing a beautiful baby shower, I'm not even allowed to be there_! James was kicked out, again. He sat in his study staring at the same page for five minutes. He lay down his book and walked out into the hall. _Peeking wouldn't hurt, would it?_

Suddenly, a whole river of little people swept past him, almost knocking off his feet. They barely parted for his feet in the middle. _IMP INFESTATION! Not right now! This is really not a good time for me!  
_

He followed the stragglers back to the quite empty guest bathroom, where something had tipped off the bathtub. _Great, just great. Gramps always had the weirdest sense of humor... though I'm still not quite sure which guests he was planning on using this one on. Well, I'll just close it from the outside, and come back through the front door._ James slid down, and pushed the section of wall back up. It locked with a click.

He turned around, and headed back through some bushes toward the driveway. Something caught his eye. There, at the top of a pine tree, right on the edge of the grounds, was...

_Grandma's mahogany table! Damn that Sirius. It was just like him to put it on top of a tree. _

He headed towards it, and stopped. _What if it was some kind of Deatheater trick? No, that was just stupid, what kind of moron Deatheater would lure him out with a table? They wouldn't be able to get it from his house, anyway. And it was safe to go after; Sirius wouldn't put it outside the wards, which were around the fence line._ James continued.

"Reducio." He ordered to the tree, and it shrunk down to waist height. He grabbed at the table, but it disappeared, leaving in his had an oddly shaped stick.

Huh? James shook his hand but the stick didn't come off. He felt a familiar tugging, and his feet left the ground . . .

_Portkey. _

James landed in a black cavern. An eerie familiar voice piped up in the semidarkness.

"I told you! I was faithful to you, Lord! See, I brought him, James Potter!"

Silence.

"You have pleased me, Wormtail . . ."

_FUCK. _

* * *

Lily's POV

_Where's Harry? _Lily had a moment of panic. _Oh, there he is, over there on the blanket next to the Weasley twins. What were their names again? Fred and George, that's it._

CRACK. Lotta the house elf tugged at her hand urgently. "Mistress Lily, Mistress Lily, there's some people at the door asking to see Harry."

_Déjà vu? _

Lily shook her head, after picking up her son, who had a very cute worried expression on his face, and went to the door. _Everything was okay, we're behind the wards._ _But who would be at the door? _

She walked into the front hall, where some people in white robes with expressionless faces waited. _Where have I seen something like that before . . .?_

"So, this is Harry. May be see him for a second?" One of the people asked.

It clicked. "Oh, did Camellia send you?"

"Actually no, through we are associates of hers." One of the men reached out his hand and gently touched Harry's head. He rested it there a moment, and he withdrew his hand. He nodded with satisfaction, and the others smiled. "We shall be off now." They walked away, and Lily stared after them, confused, and closed the door behind them.

_What was that all about?_ Lily turned around, and Camellia suddenly leaped for the shadows.

"Ahh- oh, auntie Camellia don't scare me like-"

"They don't know." Camellia interrupted. "They don't remember, their minds are not focused on the right time period, they don't remember their future selves completing the move." She shook her hands urgently while she babbled.

Harry jerked in her arms, and Lily stroked the top of is head. _Since it's Aunt Camellia, I'm not going to commit her, and just stare blankly. _

"What are you talking about?" Lily raised an eyebrow. _Hey, seers are supposed to be mentally unstable. About time she cracked, I guess._

"Do you remember the note I gave you, with the Telepathy Sphere?"

Lily nodded.

"Now is the time, child!" she insisted. "Now, listen to me girl, and listen closely. This is really important." She leaned in close. "The Evans' weren't related to you."

_What? _

"What do you mean?" Lily asked after a moments pause.

"Have you ever wondered, my Lily, why I'm a witch and the Evans' were muggles?"

Lily stared blankly. She had always taken it for granted that Camellia was a muggleborn like herself.

"The Evans' weren't your real parents. Your real mother died while living among faeries, and as traditional with all orphans, you became a Changeling Child. Remember when I said I got the Elven protection spell from my sister's grandmother in law? That's because the man that my sister married was half elf and half faerie. They had a son, who went and married a banshee. He got killed in a rockslide accident; just about the same time you were born. They were living with his grandmother in a faerie winter camp at the time, and as custom there, all orphans are switched with humans into normal families. How do you take into account your infant son's ability to knock out an enemy from several feet away just with his voice? That's banshee blood."

Lily stared.

Camellia was working herself into a frenzy. "NOW IS THE TIME! Listen to me, James had been taken by Voldemort!"

"What?" Lily's head snapped up. "What did you say?"

"You can save him, Lily, if you go now."

Lily nodded. The situation became horribly clear.

"You can't rescue him alone. You wouldn't stand a chance. Here, I have this for you. It's a list of your relatives, your real relatives, and where to find them. The faeries, the elves, the banshees, they will welcome you. At least I hope so. You have to convince them to help you. Go! NOW!" she thrust a piece of paper in Lily's hand, and ran out the door, disappearing.

_James . . . _she thought forlornly. A sudden calmness and clarity came over her_. I will save my husband. James will come back, and he will raise his son! In fact, I INSIST upon it. _

There was a fireplace in the kitchen. Without packing or taking anything with her, she walked there. Strange banging noises echoed through the kitchen, but she ignored them, striding up to the fire. There was a small tub of floo in one of the cupboards, and she quickly lit a fire, casting a cloud of green powder.

There was a soft whine. She turned around, seeing Fury forlornly look up at her. Shifting Harry to one arm, she squatted down, lifting the gryphon's face up too look her in the eyes. "Fury," she said softly and firmly. "I will be back, take good care of my son while I'm gone." Briefly, she remembered Sirius explaining the invisible collar to Samantha. She loosened it, and flipped it over. Fury disappeared before her eyes. Lily felt in the air, before finding Fury and getting a good grip on the scruff of her neck.

"Only one place where he'll truly be safe." She murmured, tossing in the Floo. "Hogsmead!" she called as she stepped in.

* * *

Severus Snape's POV

Professor Snape was sulking in one of the booths in Madame Rosmerta's. _Yet another expulsion request turned down. What respect would a professor get with out expelling at least seven people!_ He watched sulkily as the fire turned green. _Great, someone's coming. Fine, as long as it isn't another professor_. He was alone at his table, and he'd like to keep it that way.

A disheveled looking woman burst from the flames, carrying a baby. Around the room, heads turned to watch. Severus peered closer, trying to discern who it was.

_Lily? Lily Evans? Or should he say, Potter. The little brat must be James's son._ _Just fantastic, exactly what I need, another Potter._ _What's she doing here anyway?_ Severus hadn't seen her since seventh year, definitely not since he had become a professor. _She was a nice enough girl. I wonder why she married James_?

She looked a bit disoriented, and she looked around, unclenching the fingers of one hand in an odd, releasing motion. "I need a professor! A Hogwarts Professor!" she cried urgently. All eyes turned toward Severus. Her eyes landed on him.

"Severus!" Suddenly the baby was thrust into his arms. She leaned closer and whispered furiously, shaking his shoulder. "Here, take Harry. Bring him to Dumbledore. And be careful, it's not safe, Voldemort's after him! I'll be back, he just needs to be safe!" she ran back, showered the flames with Floo powder, and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. She quietly read something off and disappeared.

"Hey," he called a second later. "What?"

He looked down at the baby that had suddenly appeared in his arms. _The Potter baby._ Who was looking up at him with what he could swear was dislike.

_Oh, crap._


	7. Valeska's Swamp

* * *

Chapter Six: Valeska's Swamp

* * *

Lily's POV

Lily looked down at the slip of paper Camellia had given her. There were only two words on it. _Okay, I'll use that, then._

Leaving her baby behind, she stepped into the fire. "Winchester Fields."

She shut her eyes for the long twirling ride, stumbled into the back of some fireplace, and stepped out. There was no fire behind her; she would have to light one if she came back in that direction. The chance she had taken had been worth it, because instead of sending her to the lost and found at the registration center, the floo network had had actually brought her to a real location. She started to put the paper back in her pocket, and saw something odd written on it. The little letters had arranged themselves in a page of music notes.

_There's no way that it changed to the information I need! Not exactly when I need it, anyway._ Wizards all over the world had been trying to accomplish that one for years, along with self spelling wands, which most had given up on, because it was impossible. The wand needed a power source, in that case, the person's magical core, to work at all. James had explained it to her once, but she had forgotten most of it.

_Maybe Camellia pre-spelled it so that after a certain time, it would show the next piece of information. She is a seer, after all!_ She could KNOW when Lily was going to get there, and then she would spell it so that it would show her what she needed, when she needed it! _Okay, now that that's solved . . ._

She was in a large wooden house. It was completely empty of furnishings, or any other objects. A thick layer of dust covered everything. Somebody had lived here once, left, and never come back. _Where exactly am I, anyway?_

Lily found the front door to her left, and opened it, standing on the doorstep and surveying her surroundings. Stretching out for quite a ways on both sides, long grassy fields went all the way into the trees. Next to the house, a small brook rippled by, sending calming water sounds into the house. As inviting as the water looked, there was absolutely no life in the water or on the small banks beyond. Not a single frog or fish. The brook went past her, and flowed all the way down in front of her, disappearing in the tree line.

_If I follow that, I could follow it back whenever I want to return!_ She started out, trying to keep sure footing on the round, smooth rocks by the brook. Soon into the trees the ground turned soft and muddy. The brush started to dwindle down, until there was nothing out in front of her but endless skeletal trees and ankle deep mud. The brook joined with several other small streams and rivulets, and it steadily crew larger, increasing in volume and in speed.

The ground was trapping her, encasing her feet rapidly, and making forward movement almost impossible. Lily stepped into the river, letting the current carry her farther. The water would be icy cold, then comfortable warm, shifting back and forth every couple minutes as new, different water sources combined with hers. Finding her way back would be harder, now.

_Think of James, _she reminded herself. Lily stayed in the water, going forward.

All at once, the rushing water turned into a huge river. The currents swished around huge rocks, cutting it extremely close on Lily's part. _Oops, better get out of here, and soon. The sides seem so far away . . . _

She swam there, and grabbled at the shore. Either it was slippery rock, or slimy mud, neither giver her much hold at all. The flow of the water pulled urgently at her, and she became more frantic.

From the shore, a slender, pale, hand reached down and took Lily's wrist in a death grip. "Fallen into the river then, have you?" Lily was pulled onto the shore, and helped up. She looked up to an astonished looking woman; maybe a little older than Lily, with long dark brown hair and somber gray eyes.

"I beg your pardon. I've never seen you before!" Then she gasped. "Human!" She accused, pushing away at Lily's shoulder, almost shoving her back into the river. Lily coughed out some more water, and stepped forward from the edge.

The woman pushed her back. "When will you people learn you're not wanted here!" Then she picked up a piece of paper from the ground. "Take your filthy- huh? This is our peace song, how'd you get it? Are you a banshee? Oh my, I apologize!" seeing Lily's difficulty, as she was teeter tottering on the edge, she pulled on her onto safe ground, and thumped passionately on her back until Lily had expelled all the water in her lungs. When she could talk, Lily nodded her thanks.

"Half," she said.

"Oh. Ever predicted someone's death?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Are you looking for the banshees here?" Lily nodded. "Welcome then, to Valeska's swamp. Or Valeska Swamp. All the same. Called by outsiders as the Moonwail clan. Don't ask me why. Ignorant, unimaginative name. It originates from when humans still lived at the surrounding housings, like the Brenmore Estates, the rabbit cabin, and Winchester Fields. We took full moons out of our busy schedules to take off with some of our werewolf friends, and terrorize the nearby humans. Some were so scared of being warned of their death, they died right on the spot. Or somehow else, along the way." She gave an ironic, amused grin. "We're not a clan either, more like one big village family. Nobody has lived there for ages. Was your father human?" she started off into the marsh, feet sliding over the surface as if she was floating. Lily started after her, ungracefully, and stumbled through the swamp, embarrassed behind her new friend.

The woman turned back, and laughed. "Sing or talk while you walk, and if you're listening, hum quietly. Just do something with your voice. There's something about banshees and swamps and water that's just compatible."

Lily let out a long hum, and took another step. Instead of sinking in, her feet set down gently on the surface, and then lifted up until she was hovering. She was floating! Lily was so surprised, she forgot to take anther breath, and just kept on humming. It didn't seem to matter, through. _Nice!_

The banshee woman laughed again. "The big secret of the banshees. I suppose you've heard tales that we are half spirit? Mind, there is some truth to that, but the power of voice can never be underestimated. A niece of mine was born mute. Everybody was just as kind to her and all, but there's not much she could do. She moved out, lived with the cave werewolves. Last I heard of her, she headed off to join the humans. Not that she wasn't safe on full moons, werewolves never bit banshees. Natural instinct, our blood would probably poison them. Werewolves, banshees, ghouls, siren mermaids, among with a few others, have been natural allies since just about the beginning of their existence. All the ones discriminated in the 'scary' and 'evil' pile. Really, do I look that scary?" she gave Lily a sweet smile. She looked absolutely gorgeous, except for perhaps her teeth were a little too pointy. Lily giggled, shook her head, and went back to humming. _I could get use to this hovering thing. _

"So, anyway, I'm Harmony."

"Lily."

"Beautiful name. So, again, is your father human?"

"Part. I believe he was elven- fairy, with a bit of human."

"Even better! Look, this is our camp." They walked into a knee deep swampy clearing. Mud huts were built out of the muck, almost blending in with the surroundings. Roll a rock in front of the circular openings, and they would be completely camouflaged. Many women, several men, and a couple small little girls were running bustling around in front of them, either humming above the surface, or simply swimming and pushing things across.

"Excuse me, everybody, we have a new arrival!" Heads turned. "This is Lily, she's a half banshee here to visit us!"

They all hummed over, singing happy greetings, and a short piece apparently called the Welcoming Song. "That's Ilaria." Harmony told her, pointing at a tall black haired woman who stood out of the crowd.

"She's the oldest descendant of Valeska herself, the banshee who originally started this village. Nobody know exactly where she came from, the most common theory is that she rose out of the ocean in the north, having once been a siren of the water, and swam up the rivers to this spot. She gathered many lone banshees along the way, and started the village. Ilaria is our head chieftress."

Lily was watching the men. "I didn't know there were male banshees."

Harmony laughed. "Where do you think the real, true blooded banshees come from? Men aren't as common, and they're not official banshees. They don't do the whole traditional family thing, the wailing and warning and scaring and so on. We have enough kids, anyway, banshees live pretty long. Look, there's mine. MELODY!"

One of the little girls, of about five, ran up. "Mommy!"

"Had a good day?" Melody nodded. "Say hello to Lily."

"Hello, Lily." Melody hid behind her mother's skirt, peeping out shyly.

"Hybrid?" The one called Ilaria asked firmly, but kindly.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure this is where my mother came from, but I don't know who she is. I never thought much of having a good singing voice, or knowing when somebody was going to die, until just recently." She said, not really wanting to say that she had only found out this morning. The others were listening intently. "That is, until my infant son started to knock people out he didn't like by screeching at them. My great aunt told me, then."

The clearing shook with laughter. "Yup, that's a young banshee hybrid, right there." Harmony told her. Melody had left her mother's skirts, and was giggling, perhaps remembering the days when she had been little and loved to scream, just for the fun of it.

Ilaria nodded at her. "So who was your father?"

"Not sure either. All I know was that he was part human, part faerie, and part elf. Oh!" She unclenched her fist, peeking at her paper there. "Uh, Saber, maybe?" she read off it.

"My cousin Lake married some one called Saber! Elven name if I've ever heard one. Yeah, that sounds right." She reached forward and tilted Lily's chin up, looking in her face. "You look a lot like her. Those are her cheekbones, and the chin and lips. Didn't Saber have eyes shaped like that?"

Some of the elderly banshees nodded. Ilaria and several others sprung forward and embraced her. "Welcome to the family!" One of them told her. _Wow, really friendly people. I always got the impression that banshees were, well, spooky, I suppose. I guess now, since I'm one of them... that sounds weird. One of them. A banshee. _

"So, what brings you here?" Ilaria asked.

"Are you familiar with the Deatheaters?"

"Yes." Ilaria told her. "We usually don't interfere unless necessary, though. We turned down several 'peace' offers, otherwise known as enslavement contracts, from Voldemort. Can you believe he asked us to sign with blood? Banshees make pacts with NO human."

"I see where you're coming from. It's kind of a long story, but-"

Faces perked up and almost every single banshee sat down with a happy squish and got comfortable at the word 'story'.

Lily smiled. "All right, thanks." She settled down. It was so comfortable in the mud. "Okay, my life I thought I was human, and got married to a handsome human called James and had an adorable son called Harry. Before, I went to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry..."


	8. The Werewolves

* * *

Chapter Seven: The Werewolves

* * *

Severus's POV

_NO, no, no, no, no, NO! I am not standing here, holding a baby, whom I know almost nothing about, and the whole bar is staring at me. NO WAY! I don't want this... Potter. _

_This is not happening… At least she said she'd be back. That's an improvement. As soon as I get this baby to Dumbledore, IT will be out of my hands. The sooner the better. Did Lily say anything else? No, nothing that I understood, anyway. Good enough. IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM!_ Severus 'Humph'ed. _How do you hold a baby, anyway?_ He gripped it in front of him awkwardly, and snickers erupted behind him as he left. _They're never going to forget this, are they?_

_Fine. I'll take it up. Then, I'll hopefully never see it again. EVER._ He started up the path to Hogwarts. It wasn't all that far, but it went along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and there's no way that I'm getting caught THERE after dark. _Maybe the... things... out there would want to eat the baby. Fine._

The sun went farther down and the trees shadows covered the path. _Should've left earlier. This WEIGHT is slowing me down._ Well, that wasn't really true, the infant really didn't weigh much, but the task did. _Imagine, walking in the great hall, carrying a BABY. The other professors would never forget this, either. At least he's not crying._

"Damn baby." Severus muttered gruffly. The baby suddenly kicked him hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. "Ooof!"

The baby giggled, and seemed to be glaring at him maliciously.

"You did that on purpose, you little brat." _Evil kid._

He tightened his grip, and a sudden pain went through his fingers. _It BIT me! The little- toothless-little-MUNCHKIN THING BIT me! For having only gums, the little guy has one hell of a jaw._ "Ow, Dammit!"

The sun had now gone down. The sky was almost dark, and a long howl echoed through that part of the forest. Severus stiffened and looked up. It was the last day of the full moon! He could still remember Dumbledore's 'new professor' lecture. 'Whatever you do, never, ever, go into the forbidden forest on full moons. If you're in Hogsmead, wait for a carriage to come pick you up. Don't attempt to venture home alone.' _The little brat made me forget! Damn, it's all his fault . . ._

"AAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU!" Severus jumped. _That howl was right next to me!_ He started to run. _If they're following me, there was no way I can make it! _He fumbled for his wand, almost dropping the baby, who was mercifully quiet. Teeth ripped at the hem of his robe. He tripped, and his wand slipped out of his fingertips.

"HELP!" There was no use; no one else was stupid enough to be in the forest on a full moon. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

Yellow eyes glared at him from in front of his, and white teeth slashed. He turned around, and a dark furry form jumped at him. He turned again, and again... he was surrounded!

The baby slipped from his limp grasp; sliding down the front of his muddy cloak and landing, unhurt, at his feet. Severus stumbled back in shock. Bad, hot breath on the back of his _neck... no... don't bite me... no! _The werewolves leaped forward at the baby. _He could run . . . maybe make it . . ._

_No. Even if it's Potters son, even if he bit me, I just can't LEAVE it here, to be devoured, or bitten, or shredded to pieces. Merlin knows what they would do with a young defenseless human. _

"Go AWAY!" Severus leaped forward, and then stopped. The biggest wolf, the alpha male one, he supposed it was a family pack like was common, was... licking it? _LICKING IT!?_ It was true, the wolves were quickly gathering around, nuzzling it.

_Maybe they have a thing for babies? _

One by one they smelled him, noticing him, and looked up, growls rising in their throats. _Oh, shit. This is not good. Not good at all. Should've run. _

They advanced slowly, backing Severus up against a tree, teeth flashing dangerously. The baby let out a coo. They stopped, and looked back at it. It gurgled at them, and they leapt back from the baby and him, as if frantic to get away. They yipped, disappearing off into the trees.

_What could possibly make them do that? In their irrational wolf form, werewolves are afraid of nothing. Nothing. That means they didn't run off in fear. Must be the baby theory, then. _

Severus grabbed up his wand. Then he picked up the baby, gently, and started off briskly towards Hogwarts. _They didn't look like they were coming back, but who knows what really lurks out in the forest? Except for maybe that oaf Hagrid, of course._

He finally came out of the forest, on the path leading to the front door. It opened for him, seeing that it had his hands full. _Strange door._ Usually it had a bad temper, and liked to hit the back of his head by closing on him.

Fortunately, the great hall was empty. Severus went straight to the Headmaster's office.

"Kit Kat." He told the gargoyles. That was Dumbledore's latest fascination. Weird things, Severus refused to taste them. _Odd name too, all the more reason for the muggles to secretly be trying to poison everyone. Who knows what goes on in muggle minds? Mass suicide, perhaps. _

The door opened before he got there. "Come in Severus. Got Harry, I see."

"Yeah, I think that's what he's called- wait, how did you know about that?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with mirth. "Apparently, rumors travel faster than you walk. According to them, and unidentified woman came out of the fire and threw a baby at you almost an hour ago at Hogsmead. I already had half a dozen calls, from Madame Rosmerta to random passerbys- but that's not important. You left, forgetting the danger of the full moon. Foolish, Severus, you weren't thinking clearly. I knew, but it was too late. I got a note, you see, from Harry's great great aunt."

"Oh," was all Severus could think of. "Sorry, I was rushing." He held the baby out in front of him towards Dumbledore, who sighed. "Sit down, Severus."

Severus grumbled and took a seat. The Headmaster sat down across from him. "The note included a short sentence, not explaining why, but simply saying that no one must know the baby's true identity. We must hide him, Severus."

"WE?"

"Yes, we. See the current opinion seems to be that you had an affair with an unknown woman and now she has dumped the baby on you."

"WHAT? NO! This is NOT my baby!" _The other professors are probably having a field day,_ Severus thought bitterly.

"Yes," Dumbledore said pacifyingly. "But I thought, and no buts, is that we would stick with that story, so no one would know who he is. You wouldn't have to take care all of the time, and . . ."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! I REFUSE! NO, NO, NO!"

"Must you? You sound like a child. I said no buts. This is 'your child' and you will not tell anyone otherwise. Yes, I am aware term starts in a couple of days, and there's nothing I can about it. We'll figure out the details tomorrow, now give him to me, and I'll take him to Madame Pomfrey for the night. See you in the morning."

He took Harry and ushered Severus out of the room before he could say another word.

He stood in the outside, stunned. _This can't be happening . . ._


	9. Rocs

* * *

Chapter Eight: Rocs

* * *

James's POV

James' head hurt, and he felt groggy. Owww_, what happened? Root Imps! Infesting the house! Damn, now I have to get someone who knows a proper race banishing or exterminating spell. Everyone know how hard it is to get someone to actually come, and for a reasonable price . . . _He opened his eyes, and the memory of the portkey returned to him.

_No! I've been taken! Lily, Harry... are they okay? What if they're dead? No, no, they're not stupid enough to walk right off the grounds. Unlike SOME people. For a freaking TABLE no less. _

_The table had been an illusion, Sirius had definitely done something else with it. He looked guilty. Then how had the Deatheaters known about the table? The only people who knew were Sirius, Lily, Samantha, Peter... PETER! _

Words echoed in his head. _'I am pleased with you, Wormtail' . . .WORMTAIL. That, that, that... little rat! Little rat? I should have figured it out earlier,_ James thought mournfully.

"Master, the prisoner had woken!" James sprung up. A dark figure swept into the dungeons, and behind him came a little scurrying man. James shook his fist at him. "Peter! Peter, you rat!"

The man whimpered. "I'm sorry James..."

Voldemort backhanded him casually, "Never apologize to the enemy." He was too interested with James to put any heart in it. "Where did your family go?"

"I'm not telling you anything!" James insisted, then was confused. "Hold on, what? My family?"

"Yes, they've left the house. I want them."

"You'll never find them!" James said vehemently. "They're probably safe, somewhere off..."

"Throw him to Malfoy and Macnair. See what they can make of him." Voldemort left. Wormtail, as he was now to be known, for Peter was far too good, too human, of a name for him, snuck a glance at his old friend before leaving.

_Hopefully, Lily and Harry are somewhere safe..._ James thought, as his arms were grabbed roughly, and he was dragged down a thin corridor, to a room beyond.

* * *

back in the oven, Sirius's POV

Sirius was tired, hungry, and started to freak out. _What if no one finds me and lets me out of his cruel prison?_ There was a flash of light, and his enclosed space was reduced.

"Sirius! Jeeze!" Samantha exclaimed, right in his ear. "It took me forever to remember how to transport, I thought of just walking in normally, but then I started thinking of which foot to stick in first, and then I remembered it didn't matter, that's the left door on the third floor next to the staircase with the moving disappearing steps. Then I couldn't remember where it went, and so I thought maybe I ought to remember before I try something, you could have been sent to one of those rooms that can only be opened from the outside. Then I first came to check if you were waiting for me downstairs, and when you weren't there, I went back up, before remembering where it went. When I got there, I thought that maybe it would be better to come get you the really way, so I went halfway up before thinking that maybe it would be quicker from upstairs. So I walked through. Now open the door."

"Uh, the door?"

"The door, dumbass. The wall next to you, press near the top, and it should open."

"Oh? I've been pounding on the side YOU'RE on."

"Just open it already! Your breath stinks!"

Sirius pressed, and the wall sprung down. Samantha shoved him from behind, and he popped out of_... the OVEN? I've been in the OVEN!_

"Come on, Lets go see where everybody is, maybe they're worried about us." Samantha said casually.

Sirius followed, disappointed. _Why didn't they just go back to what they were doing BEFORE he ended up in the oven. _

"Hey, where'd everybody go?" Sirius looked up. The living room was empty, presents untouched_... oh my_, and the party decorations left behind. There wasn't a single sign of life.

The door opposite them opened, and Mrs. Weasley burst into the room. "Samantha, Sirius, my dears, where have you been?"

"Around," Sirius said vaguely. "Why?"

"The party stopped and then everyone went home, last night, when Lily took Harry and went to go answer the door, and never came back! James couldn't be found, either! They still haven't shown up!" She was extremely distraught.

"They're GONE?" Sirius burst out.

"They couldn't have just dis- well, I suppose they could have. Do you know who she answered the door to?"

"Nobody went with her. You could ask the house elves, though."

"Which?"

"Er, Lotty? Lotta?"

"Lotta!" Samantha called.

Crack! Latta's little face appeared by their knees, looking up.

"Mistress Samantha! Can I be helping you? The others has left and the house leaves is frankly bore- terribly sorry! Sorry!" she gasped at her own impertinence.

"That's okay. Did you open the door for Lily yesterday?"

"Yes, Mistress Potter."

"Samantha. Potter sounds like my mother. Who was at the door?"

"Some people, with long cloaks. Lotta is not seeing their faces."

Sirius and Samantha leaned forward anxiously. "What color cloaks?"

"White."

"Oh. Did they come in?"

"I is not knowing."

Sirius and Samantha exchanged looks. "Mrs. Weasley, why don't you go home to your family? We'll go see Dumbledore." Samantha told the frantic woman.

"But, what..."

"We promise to floo and see you if anything happens." Sirius added.

"Oh. Okay." She slowly left though the fire.

Samantha reached out and grasped Sirius's hand fretfully. Silently, together they left for Hogwarts.

* * *

Harry's POV

When the werewolves left, Harry had been just as surprised as Severus. The weak protesting had been instinctive, and the werewolves had still listened to him. _Maybe they knew professor Lupin? Naw, werewolves usually don't remember anything while wild. _

Harry hung off Dumbledore's thin arm and grumbled to himself. SNAPE'S _SON! SNAPE'S! This wasn't going to work out. He was going to kick, scratch, do whatever necessary to keep away from Snape. Make a fool out of him. He was also going to milk it all he could... _

_Fury? _He called, an idea coming to him.

**_Harry! _**

_The greasy man is bad. Really bad._

* * *

Lily's POV

Her head was on a soft pillow; she was wrapped in a thick blanket, and she was sleeping in a small, warm, mud pit. Not very glamorous, but extremely comfortable. It also made her skin vvveeerrryyy soft.

Somebody opened the flap of her tent. "Lily?"

It was Harmony. "Yeah?"

"We have made our decision." Last night, after the story, the banshees had ushered her off to her own tent, and conferred on whether to help her or not. She had fallen asleep of exhaustion, and dreamed of happiness with James and Harry.

"Really?" She hopped to her feet and slugged forward before remembering to hum her way. Harmony laughed softly.

They left the tent. Every single banshee was gathered around her, in a large circle.

Ilaria stepped forward. "Our decision is... yes. We will help Lake's daughter, our kin, for what is right, when the time comes."

Lily smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much!"

The circle smiled. Ilaria held something out to her. It was a round, flat, piece of shell, on a leather cord. On the shell music noted were engraved, starting on the outside, and spiraling, smaller and smaller before trailing off in the middle. "Hold it next to your heart, and sing, then we will come." Lily nodded.

Next they handed her a map. Certain landmarks were mapped on in it, and a little trailing line went through the middle, to signify where to go. "Follow the line until you get to these rocks. Our friends await you there." Harmony pointed in the direction of a huge, flat looking tree is the distance, which was also marked on the map. "There you go. You can't go wrong, al long as you keep the landmarks in front of you."

* * *

later that evening, Lily's POV

_There they were._ The rocks, a huge pile of them, were right in front of her. The last landmark. Instead of climbing, Lily hummed her way up. A little black bird darted in front of her, chirping. _What? Oh, maybe I follow it. _She trailed behind it, and from behind some rocks, something huge lunged out.

_It's a HUMUNGOUS bird! It's as big as a bus! A truck! A HOUSE! They're just BIG!_ Lily stepped back, almost falling off the tower of rocks. She wavered, and the bird reached out a huge talon, hooking in on her shirt, then pulled her up until she was safe. _Oh. I guess they're nice, then. And friends of the banshees! It's looks like— could it be— a roc? _

The roc took a step toward her, and she let out a thin quavering note. The roc looked at her, as if wondering. _No, rocs are supposedly pretty intelligent. It WONDERED. _About her, that is. And it let out the same, whistling note through it's beak.

Encouraged, she started singing, improvising a short song, so it would understand she meant peace. The roc however, listened intently, and it nodded. It grabbed her in one talon, which reminded Lily of Fury and gold objects, and placed her on the other side, motioning for her to move. It then led her down into a huge crater in the middle of all the stone. There were tons of rocs down there, inhabiting every corner. They looked over at her, and she sang a short measure of the peace song she had seen on her paper. Thank goodness for the singing lessons she had taken before she had found out she was a witch.

The rocs returned to their activity, and bustled around, revealing large, shiny white eggs that were wider than she was tall. _Oh, wow._ One of the Rocs, s smaller, half grown one, stepped forward. Her roc whistled at it. The other one hopped forward, and bowed down.

_Get on it's back? What if it flies, and I fall off, or it... something. Yeah, something. Okay, I've now argued myself into going._ She climbed on, clinging to glossy feathers. As she had feared, it suddenly jumped up, pumping it's wings. They rose higher, and higher, and higher, everything was so far away, and below her, the ground fell away rapidly. She closed her eyes, and a cool misty breeze rustled around them.

She opened her eyes. They were now above the clouds. _Well, if you were a roc, would you want people to see you? No, you wouldn't. Think logically, Lily,_ she told herself.

They flew on, and Lily suddenly realized hat she had no idea where they were going.


	10. The Sorting

* * *

Chapter Nine: The Sorting

* * *

Harry's POV

Harry had spent the last several days with Professor Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey, and sometimes with Samantha and Sirius. They had shown up a couple days ago, and updated on how Harry got to be there. Nobody really knew what was going on, besides Camellia, and she was nowhere to be found, again. Sirius and Samantha had immediately gone out, when hearing of their brother/best friends plight, and joined the search for James, along with a squad of Aurors.

It was the first day of term. The first students came bursting into the hall, followed by many others. The trickle became a stream, and a river. Excited students joined their friends at the hip and tackled their seats, hunger showing clearing in their eyes. And on their drool.

At the front of the room, stood a long line, of maybe twenty-one first years. They fidgeted, and stared apprehensively around the room. They didn't look the least bit hungry. In fact, they looked about to regurgitate the last thing they had eaten.

An old worn hat was placed on a small stool at the front of the room, and everybody stared at it. The first years gave each other glances.

And the brim opened up, and sang.

"Before the stones were cut and laid,

From far, the four founders came along,

And there they stood around and surveyed,

Where Hogwarts was meant to be built.

"Before there was no peace and joy,

Inner happiness and true loyalty,

Helga Hufflepuff came to destroy,

The bitterness on the hard, cold ground.

"Before the intent thought,

There was a great blank and lonely space,

Where Rowena Ravenclaw decided there ought

To be concentration, smarts and learning.

"Before strength, might and courage,

There was no one to stand up for one another,

Godric Gryffindor forced them all to make the switch,

And the true meaning of pride was found.

"Before the simplicity ran and shrunk away,

Salazar Slytherin made the school crafty,

As his house still is to this very day,

And the shadows grew deep meaning.

"On this ground, Hogwarts was built."

The Great Hall burst into applause. Harry started applauding, and then thought better of it and stopped before anyone noticed. Now, everyone was leaning forward in anticipation.

"Bella Dumont."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Pandora Macey."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Anna Harris!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Delaney Gaffney!

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Parker Northcliffe."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Letitia Kaspin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

After each person, there was a loud applause. Liana Jackson, Sequoia, and Julian joined Gryffindor. Deveraux Crane, Jaqueline Obern, Chance, and Andrew went to Slytherin. Tyson Milard, Oneida, Pascal, Norman, and Lennon, were Hufflepuff, and Beau Johovic, Thom Kamen, Amy, Konstantin, and Jessica were the other first year Ravenclaws.

There was one loud round of applause, and the feast began. It was very different from the staff table, Harry noticed.

The eating was winding to a close, and Dumbledore stood up to make his speech. He and Madam Pomfrey had managed to keep Harry out of sight until now, and through unnoticed by the students, Harry had been given some strange looks from the professors. His appearance hadn't yet been connected with Madam Rosmerta's bar rumors, but it was bound to come to them eventually.

"Attention everyone! There is not much to be said, only stay out of the Forbidden Forest THIS year, and first years, follow your school prefects and you can't go wrong. I however have one more thing to announce. Some of you might have noticed that there is, indeed, and infant at the staff table. No, he's not a new professor,"

He waited for laughter, but none came.

"He is indeed the son of Severus Snape."

Gasps went through the Hall. Every one turned to look at Snape, who was staring at his old 'friend' Albus with absolute horror. The other Professors looked shocked.

"The young boy had no name when he came to us. In fact, Professor didn't even know he was a father. The mother, uh, recently- stepped forward."

Snickers ran through the hall, as people imagined how THAT might have happened. Snape's pale, waxy skin was slowly turning bright red. All eyes were on him.

"So, therefore, we have decided to name the boy Raven Faxon Snape. All right, you may go now." Dumbledore scooped Harry up, and stood off.

Unwillingly, yet happy to leave the room, Severus followed, and they went to the staff room. Snape flopped down down on a couch, limp with hopelessness. "How could you DO THAT TO-"

The other Professors burst into the room.

"Professor Snape! What is the meaning of this!"

Suddenly Peeves came flying through one of the cracks in the far wall, and bounced around the room, singing a loud, lewd, and rather, uh, descriptive song, not meant for children's hears.

"Peeves!" Dumbledore hissed.

Peeves didn't listen to him, and went of through the door, still caroling happily. He looked as if Christmas had come early, and he could suddenly eat, too. Snape threw his head back in despair.

"This is not my fault!" he moaned.

Professor Sprout's eyes widened, and she pointed at Harry. "Actually, I think it is."

Snape shook his head, not denying it, not really. "Should have left him to the werewolves," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Asked Professor Sage, the DADA teacher.

"Didn't you hear? I had to save him from the werewolves, only to bring him back here, and find out he was indeed my son, and I had too keep him."

_That wasn't fair! I saved HIM from the werewolves. They weren't going after me at all!_ Harry thought angrily.

"Er, only you would go out in the Forbidden Forest on a full moon, Severus- " Professor Kettleburn added.

**_Oh, Harry?. _**

_Oh, there you are, Fury. Wait what have you been up to? _

**_Exploring. I believe I have found the den of The Smelly One. _**

_Oh, Really? Was it deep in the ground? _

**_Yes, yes. I tried to make it, er, nicer, but every time I destroyed or scratched something, it would transform into- well, something ELSE. _**

_It's your collar, Fury._

**_Oh, yes. So, his den is a bit confused, I think. _**

Harry laughed, letting out a high, endearing giggle that brought the attention of the professors to him.

"How, he's adorable!" professor McGonagall exclaimed, stepping forward.

"I sense great danger in this young one's future! Oh, the HORROR!" Professor Trelawney wailed from the corner, and paused dramatically.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Sybill, just shut up!" Severus eyes narrowed. Now _why would he stand up for me? Naw, he just really doesn't like her._ Trelawney sniffed haughtily and left the room.

"Oh, those eyes, the hair- look at those cheeks! How old is he?" Professor Sprout stroked one of his cheeks, grinning madly. _I could get used to this . . ._

"Almost a week." Dumbledore supplied.

"Awww," the women in the room chorused.

"Do you think we could all take share time taking care of him?" The others nodded. "I'm sure he won't be a big bother, I haven't heard him cry, since, since," Dumbledore stopped. "Er," he said delicately.

"Well, you must have heard him cry." McGonagall said flatly.

"Oh yes, I have, I have, though not since the night he was born. See?" He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a big fluffy pair of Professor Sprout's pink earmuffs.

"I came prepared this time." He told them with a knowing smile.


	11. The Fae

* * *

Chapter Ten: The Fae

* * *

Lily's POV

They were soaring over the clouds, each beat of the roc's enormous wings blowing the air around Lily in large circular motions. The clouds below moved, changing shape from the wind of it all.

They had flown for hours, and moved with rapid progress. They were slowly, and finally, starting to descend. There was sudden swoop, and she was dropped deftly onto the top of a tree. "Hey!" Lily looked up, but the roc was nowhere to be seen. _For something of that size, it can sure move fast!_ She started to climb down slowly.

Lily was in what looked like a rainforest. The air was damp, and humid. Large, sheltering leaves and round flowers with curling petals twisted all around her rich in health and in color. It was breathtaking. The ground was right below, and she jumped, landing with a thump. A flittering, chittering sound echoed through the trees. Lily froze. _Where am I, and what could possibly be out there? _

Lily ran through the forest. The leaves in front of her were stiff, and she brushed them away. Green flew past her peripheral vision. The vast leaves moved aside, revealing a round clearing.

_Little people! Lots and lots of them!_ Each was only a couple inches tall, and were dancing around, in large sweeping circles, waving little fists and flowers in the air. They moved in unison, all dancing to the beat and the melody of some unheard music. Around the edges of the clearing, and in the middle, slowly but surely, a magnitude of flowers and plants were glowing. Lily gasped.

Thousands of little faces turned in her direction. And they scattered. In a couple of seconds, the whole clearing was empty. _No! Wait? I have to talk to them, maybe they were the ones I'm looking for. Maybe, just maybe, they could help me get James back somehow. _

"Hey! No! I'm not going to hurt you! Please, I need help! Come back out." A couple little heads popped out. A little light flew up to Lily, and hovered in front of her face. _She's beautiful!_ The little faerie was wearing a small leaf wrap, and little bell-like flowers adorned her swishy skirt. In her long hair, green plants appeared to be growing. Her little feet came in touch with Lily's nose, and her miniature, multicolored butterfly wings stopped moving. She touched Lily's forehead, and closed her eyes.

Her little gem blue eyes opened, she looked in my green ones, stroking my forehead compassionately. "You do need our help, do you?" Her voice was lower than I would have thought, but light and airy. "You really need our help, and desperately. That happens, occasionally, that a pure and kind human comes along." She fluttered down, and instinctively Lily raised a hand. She lit down on Lily's palm, and dropped to her knees, curling up. "You may make a wish." She said softly.

"A wish?" Lily asked.

"Yes, that is what you came for, isn't it? That's what they all come for. We are the wish faeries, those who have our blessings, or those who have caught and recognized us, they may make one wish, and that wish will come true. You have an innocent wish. It will become reality."

_I can make everything right again! Why didn't Camellia send me here in the first place? _

_Maybe she wanted me to meet the banshees? Or something had to happen before I made my wish. Maybe she was buying time so that I wouldn't freak out? _

"I wish," Lily said in a clear and steady voice. "That I was with James, and Harry, at home, and we're all safe." She closed her eyes.

Lily's skin tingled. She could smell the living room, hear James's deep and comforting voice, and could feel Harry squirming happily in her arms.

Lily opened my eyes, but was still in the forest. _My wish!_

"Are they at home?" _Maybe I made too many wishes at once?_ "Are they safe?"

The faerie on her hand blinked and looked disappointed. "It didn't work!" she called to the others in shock, and fluttered up until she was eye height with Lily. "I wonder why... oh, THAT's why it didn't work! No wonder!" She laughed.

"What, did we do it wrong? Can we try again?" Lily asked frantically.

"No, silly! We can't use the wishes on ourselves, or on other faeries. You're kin!"

The other faeries crawled out and danced around in their spots. "Kin!" they echoed.

"So that means..." Lily started, upset.

"Shhhhh!" she interrupted Lily. "Listen! You can hear it! Come on, try!"

Lily listened. Faintly, she heard music. It was a catchy, beautiful tune, and it soon filled her ears. "Listen!" some of the others chorused.

_What beautiful music! I made me want to... DANCE! I could stop, and dance for a while, I suppose. My problems would just go away if I danced- problems? What problems!_ Lily leapt up.

The little faerie was right in front of her. "Come along!" she called.

_Why is she my height? I mean, I was so much taller then her BEFORE._ Lily looked around. Everything looked so big. _I SHRUNK! I HAVE REALLY, REALLY, SHRUNK! TO THE SIZE OF A PAIR OF NAIL SCISSORS! I'm TINY! _Her surprise faded._ Ah, well, all the better to dance, I'm sure. With the others. _

Something stirred behind her back. Lily turned around, gazing at her flame colored wings. They were the bright red color of her hair, with bold yellow and orange patterns and little flickers of blue around the edges. She flew up, up with the others. We went through the forest, reveling in the light that filtered through. The rays of sunlight hit Lily's wings, and she felt truly alive.

They found another clearing, and began to dance around on the ground. The chaos was actually an organized string of foot movements and complicated steps, combined with graceful sweeps of the arms and hands. Each movement seemed to say a thousand words, and each switch of the hands was words, expressions, praising the sun and the music.

Lily danced, forever, and ever and ever, and ever. The sun set, and they danced in the light of the moon. It rose, and they praised the sun, just kept going, and going, never stopping as the days passed, and they roamed around, growing the forest, changing clearings and making new trees wherever they went. Time had no meaning, and it was all part of the sacred dance.

_The feelings of unbelonging I had had as a child all make sense now. I had this in my blood, the yearn for the dance. I had tried to fill the empty space of family with James, and Harry, but this sense of community with the faeries was unsurpassable. _There was something else Lily wanted, that her inner self screamed for, but she didn't know what it was. It came in the day when the moon was gone and the only shadows were under the bright glowing leaves._ But that's unimportant, the call of the faeries is stronger. _

In the middle of the berry-growing dance, Lily noticed something strange in the bushes. _Eyes, eyes, what were eyes doing in the bushes? Our bushes?_ She went over to investigate.

THWUMP! Something jumped at her, out of the darkness of the bushes, and she was slammed against the ground harshly. _The injustice!_ Lily cried out to my sisters and brothers of the fae. They called back, but their voices were fading. _Don't leave me!_

She was lifted, in a huge set of hands. _Someone had taken me! I had been caught! What should I do?_

The hands slowly opened, and Lily sat, looking up into great brown eyes. "Wow, it's a fairy!"

_I'm not a fairy! A faerie! A faerie! Fairies are bigger, and uglier, if you ask me. And they don't know ho do dance like we do. They don't hear nature's music at all! _

"Are you a wish fairy? If you are, I demand a wish."

Caught, and identified. _How do you give someone a wish, anyway? _

"I wish that Juliana was in love with me! Breck doesn't deserve her, anyway!"

_That's not fair to Juliana, is it?_ A huge ripping feeling tore at Lily, and a sense of happiness went with it. They were taking a part of her, using her magic to make their dream come true!_ I guess that's how it works, then._ She cried out in pain, but the man didn't seem to notice, for A beautiful blond girl was walking through the leaves to his right, and her eyes were right on him. "Juliana!" he cried, and Lily was dropped.

Little faerie hands grasped at her, and she was pulled to safety. The man was grinning, as they left together, he looked back once, and nodded. Then they were gone.

"Don't worry," The faerie, a cream colored one I didn't recognize, said to Lily. The rich chocolate brown spots on her wings fluttered sympathetically. "Every fae has unlimited wishes. You'll feel better soon. Come on, we must move. The dance of twilight will signify the end of your healing, and you will be as new."

Lily stopped. Something was nagging at her, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Was it worry? "I have to ask you guys something!"

Their short attention span turned to Lily. "Will you help me save my husband?" She begged.

They gasped. "Were you stolen? Did one catch you and force you to leave with it? That happened once, long ago. An evil elf took our sister away!"

"No, I married him, and I love him, and he's in trouble!" _What happened to me? How could I just forget James like that?_ "Will you help me save him? From Voldemort?"

"Voldemort?" asked one.

"That's the one with the evil wish!" another cried out.

"Oh yes! His wish was so evil it killed the lilac one with its casting."

"He made a WISH?" Lily asked, horrified.

"Oh yes, that was when he wasn't quite very large yet, a long time ago."

"What did he wish for?" Lily asked, panic rising.

"Why, to be all powerful, of course."

"Stupid wish, if you ask me. He should have wished to join the dance."

"Yes, sensible wish-"

"Will you or will you not help me save my husband from him?" Lily called over their chattering. _'All powerful'_, the words echoed in her head. _Camellia sent me; it must be possible to save James!_

"No."

The clearing was silent, and Lily turned to the one who had said it. It was the one who she had wished by, when it hadn't come true. _What did she say?_

"No. It is not our way to fight. We will not help you."

They turned and flew away, and Lily followed. She wasin shock, but the joy of the dance took her over, and her feet were moving again. Twilight was approaching, but the shadows seemed so welcoming . . . tears were running down Lily's cheeks. _Why am I crying?_ Everything was in blissful oblivion . . .

Lily tore her mind away from them. _If I stay until twilight, I will be caught up in the dance again, and I'll probably never be free from it again._ She ran back through the forest. It went on, and she would never find an end to it.

_How long have I been in the forest? How many days had passed, while James was in danger, and little Harry grew up alone and without me? Without me! I'm his mother! I should be there for him. I should be there for James. What if he's dead already? _

_No. I will find my way out of the forest, and I will find the elves that are my relatives, and James will be freed with what help I had. How much would the little worthless faeries help, anyway? All they can do is dance, and the wishes don't work for me. And nobody else's true desire is to have my husband safe, so James has no other hope! I will go, and I will fight. _

Lily stumbled upon a part of the forest that was flattened, converted into a nest, only the nest was made out of whole trees. In the middle of the nest sat the young roc. He had grown considerably since she had last seen him.

"Did you wait for me?" Lily asked. His eyes opened, and he sat up, surprised to see her. He nodded, wearily, as if he had expected to wait forever.

"I got away." Lily said softly, and he looked into her eyes understanding. He could see how much she just wanted to turn around, and run back to the dance, where they would welcome her.

Somewhere along the way Lily had grown, and her wings were gone. She missed them for a second, but as the call faded she was grateful.

"Do you have a name?" Lily asked the roc.

The roc nodded. He chirped something that could almost be translated into the singing language that the banshees used. The answer suddenly came to Lily, just make his chirp a little more melodious-

"Cortez? Your name is CORTEZ?"

The roc nodded, looking offended.

"Oh, no, it's a fine name. Are you staying with me?" another nod. "Good." _I won't be alone, then. _

Lily climbed on his back, and they rose. _Camellia must have been wrong; the faeries didn't want to help. She must have been mistaken._

Twilight came; the last vestiges of the song went down to a whisper. Lily had a feeling it would always haunt her. She leaned over, and the wind stung her eyes. Lily cried softly for the ones she had forgotten, in Cortez's glossy feathers.


	12. Manticor

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Manticore

* * *

Harry's POV

Harry had spent the last month in school, spending lots of time with the professors and the students, who, despite him being 'Snape's son' had taken a liking to him. He sometimes sat in on classes, or just lay around in the teachers lounge, where he was (secretly, of course) teaching himself how to speak properly, prop himself up and crawl prematurely. This wasn't working too well since his legs behaved like limp noodles, but he was practicing, anyway.

At this moment he was hanging casually from Snape's arm, who was teaching the first years. The lesson wasn't taking place in the dungeons, as they customarily had, but rather in a large room on the second floor. Nobody was really sure why, but whenever they happened to be walking by the old dungeons classroom ('just happened', which was quite the coincidence, considering the Gryffindor dorms were of course, in the Gryffindor tower.) They noticed that the door was gone, replaced by some funny colored bricks, that most could swear had just had the slightest tinge of pink to them. Whenever asked about the subject, Snape would go strangely silent and start muttering about go-carts and boots. Usually accompanied by murmurs of 'gryphons' and 'too advanced for a student'. No, Snape had absolutely no suspicion about gryphons, but whoever had spelled Fury's collar was either extremely incompetent or had a skewed sense of stylish humor. To the rest of the school, it was a complete mystery.

Except to Harry, of course, who had spent the last couple weeks listening to Fury's sing-songs about gold. Her talons had started to grow in further, and this caused considerable itching, so that she had a tendency to scratch things. Which usually resulted in other things happening, like someone's cauldron disappearing, and reappearing made out of pure gold, or something or another. Once there was a pile of Welsh boots next to the lake, and nobody knew where THOSE came from. The gold cauldrons, of course, disappeared by that night.

It was gryphon nature to hoard gold, so Harry had a feeling that Fury had a hidden cache somewhere, because the humming had grown less and less until she was almost always gone somewhere. Except for when she was eating food off peoples plates as they weren't looking. This caused considerable confusion, as well.

From his usual perch on Snape's lap, he was the only one who would hear Snape's speculation on exactly _why_ these things only started happening until Harry showed up.

So, anyway, Harry was tucked under Snape's arm, as he stood, teaching the first years.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Gaffney, for speaking during the lesson." He barked out. Coincidentally, Harry elbowed him in the stomach right afterward. Light giggles spread through the class, as he stood wheezing.

"Get back to work! NOW!" The class stilled. Snape slung Harry over his shoulder in a dismissive gesture. Harry looked down grumpily. _Dang, this sucks. What am I supposed to... _

_Oh... _something caught his attention, before his eyes._ Down there... Snape's wand! Right, out of my reach, in his pocket... got it! Oh yeah, finally!_ Harry tucked it down the front of his sweater. _I'll just save that for later._ Harry chewed at the back of Snape's robes, deliberately sending long lines of drool down the back of his neck. Snape's shoulders stiffened, and he edged over to the Slytherin side of the room.

"You there!" He called softly to a young Slytherin girl. "Miss Harris!"

"Yes, Professor?"

"You automatically pass and get top scores if you hold Raven for me."

Her eyes twinkled. "Why of course, I'd love to help a professor in need. He can't be harder to take care of then my little brother." She plucked Harry from Snape's arms.

_Oh, NOW I see how it works. Hello, I'm your 'son'? A little compassion maybe? _

_Nah, on second thought, he doesn't deserve it. _

The class was over, and the students left. Anna Harris was still carrying Harry, and she took him off to her next class with him, which happened to be Charms, with Flitwick.

Harry had his face tucked right under her ear, and he heard her say to herself, "Too short to see him, anyway."

_Who are you calling short? Hmmmm... _

_Oh, look, they have feathers. 'Wingardium Leviosa' day I guess._ Harry sat and watched them all try. He watched a Hufflepuff girl, Letitia Kaspin, try and fail miserably.

"Winar-"

"Vinguard-"

"Wine yard-"

"Whuh, whug. Er, er, er, no wait, ar . . ."

"Wingardium Leviosa!" The last had been Harry, whispering with Snape's wand. He had tucked his arm in his sweater, and was prodding the wand gently in her direction. Nobody had heard him.

But the feather apparently had, because it floating up, up, up, and disappeared in the rafters.

"Well done, Miss Kaspin!" Flitwick hurried over. "Amazing!" In fact, he looked extremely amazed. Letitia was their current 'Neville'. She grinned with pride, and a little confusion, but she didn't say anything.

Letitia proved to be the only person who could manage it. Anna was extremely sour about this; the Slytherins had taken an immediate dislike to Letitia mainly because her attachment to little furry animals, which was both obsessive and extremely annoying.

Next class was transfiguration with McGonnagal.

"Miss Anna Harris!" her sharp eyes had caught a glimpse of a patch of black hair out of the corner of her eye. "Tell me exactly, what you are doing with Raven?"

"Oh, er, um, Professor Snape told me that it was your turn to take care of him!"

Minerva's eyes narrowed. "We don't take turns, and if we did it definitely wouldn't be now."

"He also mumbled something about drool, on the back of his neck..." Anna added, lying like a true Slytherin.

McGonagall's expression cleared. "Oh, okay, that sort of makes sense, then." She took Harry from the girl, who slunk to her seat.

"Hey, there, little Raven! Making trouble again, aren't you? Oh, don't look at me with those big innocent eyes! We all now you did it on purpose!" Harry grinned. The staff had taken to talking to him like this behind Snape's back.

_If only they knew... _

He liked classes with McGonnagal. To the students, she was hard and stern, but to Harry she was like an aunt. She found it extremely hilarious that Snape's son would be so unlike him, and had the type of cute little easygoing troublemaker demeanor that Snape absolutely despised.

She started the lesson. "Today, we will be learning the fundamentals of plant transfiguration, of changing the species of a plant. Would somebody like to tell me why transfiguring a plant might be useful?"

Half of the room, the Ravenclaws, immediately raised their hands. The other half, the Slytherins, was silent. McGonnagal acknowledged this, but didn't say anything.

"Pandora?"

"For food, if you don't have any, who could transfigure a weed into an apple tree or something."

"Beau?"

"If you're trying to get somewhere, and some tree or bush is blocking your path, you could change it into something smaller."

They talked on. Each and every Ravenclaw had their own reason, "To make a tall tree, if you want to climb and see something far away," or "If you want privacy, to keep people away with thorns and walls of trees!"

"All right everyone, I'll be handing out your plants, kindly supplied by Professor Sprout. Please do not complain about which plant you get, no trading." She walked around, and handed out little plants.

"Now, this isn't a very hard spell, as nature likes to change and because you aren't actually making it very different. It helps if you have one thumb touching a leaf, now touch your wand to the other side of that leaf. You can do it from far away, too, but I suggest as first years . . ."

They did it. Well, some of them did. The Slytherins were a bit too haughty to be taking orders 'because they were first years' and the Ravenclaws, being the 'smart' house, didn't really want to do it either, for the sake of their reputation.

"Don't do it yet, but when I tell you to, recite 'Mutatus natura qualitas' and then add the name of the plant you want to change it into. Please choose small plants, I suggest dandelions."

The started reciting, and some of the plants grew strange extra features. Like green flowers. Some of the Slytherin flowers just wilted.

McGonnagal started to walk around the room, assisting people. "No, no, no, we're not doing elm trees yet!" "Mu- tatas, MU tatas, accentuate the mu."

On a whim, Harry pulled his wand out the front of his shirt. _What if... it might work..._

While Minerva was leaning over a Ravenclaw, Harry gripped the wand in one hand and turned it on the Slytherin side of the room.

"Mutatas natura qualitas bobotuber!"

Every single plant on their side of the room tuned into great, bulging, bobotubers. Which exploded, sending pus all over the Slytherins.

_Eeeww. _

"Ahhhh!"

"Noo! My new robes!"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Oh my god, look at my skin!"

Professor McGonagall took in the situation. She thrust Harry into the arms of some unharmed Ravenclaw, and started off to the Slytherin side. Discovering that they indeed had been showered with undiluted bobotuber pus, she sent them off to the hospital wing to have Madam Pomfrey take care of them.

After they were gone, she turned to the nest of the class.

"WHO did this?" she demanded.

Silence.

"If I find out, I SWEAR," she stopped, breathing heavily, "The penalty will be SEVERE!"

She looked around. Everyone looked, frankly terrified, but there was not one guilty face. Her face softened.

"Nice job, first years. I trust whoever did this will be found out. Now hurry off, class ends early. You have a couple minutes before lunch, I suggest you go to the Great Hall."

She left, swooping Harry up on her way. The wand was deep in his clothing by now.

_Why, oh why, did I have to give in to the temptation? _He felt guilty over the pain he'd caused. _I could have been caught, and that wouldn't have been good. I just hope nobody else gets the blame for something I did. Unless it's a Slytherin, of course._

_At least I won't be on the suspect list! _

* * *

Professor Sprout's POV

"Professor Sprout! Professor!"

_Ah, it's Oneida, one of the sweet little first years this year. One of mine, a Hufflepuff. She looked quite distressed, though. _

"Yes, dear?"

Several more female Hufflepuffs came up behind her.

"Professor, my golden locket is missing! The one my daddy got for me! It's a little heart, and I had it just yesterday!"

"And my bracelet!"

"My chain!"

"All of my golden rings!"

"My necklace, the little golden one of the running horse!"

"Mine too, and the bangles!"

"My charm anklet!"

"My last galleon! Gone!"

_Oh my._ "All of them disappeared? When?" Professor Sprout looked out over them as they thought.

"Just last night."

"I noticed it gone this morning . . ."

"Yeah."

"I will take notice of these, repeat that, slowly, and I will make a list. The lost items will be reported to the headmaster, pronto." Her eyes narrowed.

_It CAN'T be. There's a THIEF in HUFFLEPUFF! _

_A dirty thief. _

* * *

Harry's POV

Harry lounged on Snape's lap, and he watched the Great Hall. People were happily eating, the bobotuber incident temporarily forgotten. Everybody was drinking out of glass goblets.

Next to them, professor Sage shook her head. "How could all the golden goblets in the school just have- disappeared . . .?"

Harry giggled. They had disappeared two nights ago, and it mystified everyone. He also knew for a fact, from lying around the teacher's lounge all day, that almost all dorms had been completely emptied of all gold objects. Lots of blame had been put on Peeves, but for once he looked honest and openly shocked when questioned. It was one of Hogwarts biggest mysteries.

After a short "Shirking your responsibilities, Severus!" lecture from McGonagall, Snape had token his 'son' back. He appeared to be having trouble eating with the small _bundle of joy_ situated on his lap.

"Always in my way..." Snape mumbled, shifting Harry to his other knee.

The plate was right in front of Harry, right on the edge...

...of the table.

Harry immediately brought his arm down, smacking the edge of the plate. The plate, fill with meat, and gravy, and mashed potatoes and cooked carrots, flew up into Snape's face, splattering the both of them.

The Great Hall erupted in laughter. The professors were the first to laugh, quickly followed by the students that happened to be looking at the staff table. The rest looked up, and got the gist of things from Snape's food covered face, completely red and STEAMING with anger.

_When is he ever going to figure out not to insult me in front of me? Maybe I really shouldn't be doing that, but 'it was an accident', wasn't it? Is that smoke? Oh, shit!_ Harry giggled uncontrollably, like an evil baby, and then stopped. He gave a sweet, little angel grin. Then he noticed the gravy on his face, and he liked it off with delight. _Ohh, real food._

Professor Snape suddenly got up, and strode out of the room. He left the laughter behind him, and headed for the dungeons.

* * *

Severus Snape's POV

Severus Snape was extremely mad.

_How DARE they laugh at me like that? All of them, every single one of them is against me. They all hate me. I can still see their smug, laughing faces in front of my eyes. I'm the one to make fun of, I always have been. Just because of my past, my preference to be alone. _

_And this time it wasn't even my fault! It was all the fault of the Potter boy! He, he had laughed along with them. _

_Why does James Potter always have to haunt me? I hate the man- I was so glad when he finally left. Now that he's gone, his son comes after me! The whole family will never amount to anything. They stand around, and they make fun of me. They were popular, they were liked. But what is that truly, truly, worth? _

_Apparently a lot. _

"I HATE YOU!" He suddenly screamed. His voice went through the dungeons, echoing. He stalked into his room, and flung the baby on the sofa. He glared at it.

"This is all YOUR fault! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO COME INTO MY LIFE LIKE THAT! WHY? Why doesn't your family just leave me alone?" Severus knew he was being irrational, but he didn't want to stop. "WHY DOESN"T THE WHOLE WORLD JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?"

The baby looked scared. His eyes were wide, and he sunk into the cushions in terror. Harry suddenly turned his face away, and squinted his eyes shut. He looked as if he expected to be hit. He didn't cry, he just curled up.

Severus quieted and looked at Harry. He added softly. "Why do they hate me so much? Why are they all against me?"

The baby turned back to him. Under the fluff of black hair, the green eyes blazed huge and surprised. He looked sad. Instinctively, Severus picked him up.

He could feel the baby's head resting on his neck. The little body was so fragile, so small. It wasn't right to blame his life on someone so innocent. "It's okay," Severus murmured. "I'm sorry."

He sat leaned back on the couch and just sat there for a while. _If anyone finds out, they'll be surprised, _he thought, _Severus Snape actually cares._

_And for a baby, no less._ The little soul- his eyes, he seemed to actually understand. He laid Harry back on the couch. He washed his face, and gave him a new sweater. "I'll be back, I have to go take a shower." he said, gesturing to his gravy covered face.

He left.

* * *

Harry's POV

_That was the strangest thing I've ever seen. Snape, Snape . . . Snape was actually nice! He was, I dunno, ashamed for yelling at me. I wonder if this is the inner Snape, the one nobody ever sees? For a second there I thought he was going to hit me. _

**_Harry? _**

_Fury, I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been? _

**_My place. _**

_Your place? _

**_Yes. Here, I show you. Harry, I can fly! _**

_Really? That's fantastic! _

**_Yes! My wings, grew, see? I'm a lot bigger now. _**

_I'll have to take your word for it, Fury, you're invisible. _

**_Oh yes. Here I am! _**

_At least she sounds really happy._ Something shoved Harry to the edge of the sofa, and then sharp teeth brushed the back of his neck as he was gripped in Fury's mouth. She hummed her 'gold' song, and trotted off. She pushed the door open with the top of her head. She really had grown... if he was floating around where her head was, then she must have grown about a foot. _I wish I could ask Hagrid about gryphons. _

_Remember the good ol' days when I could just go and look something up in the library? _

They went through many corridors. Fury seemed to know the school very well. She led him straight to one of the corners of the school he had never seen before, and up some long stairs, into a thin, but fairly tall tower. He came into the highest room. aIt had been obviously expanded with magic.

"Oh my god," he let slip out aloud.

Until every nook and cranny, all the floor space was covered with gold. There were piles of golden Galleons, tons of jewelry, from nose studs to charm bracelets and bangles, stacks of golden goblets, golden cauldrons, letter openers, daggers, picture frames, many unidentifiable magical objects, and even a music stand.

**_Mine! All mine!_** Fury put him down, and went to curl around her gold, and piles rearranged themselves around her gryphonic bulk.

_Fury..._ he started, but gentle thought murmurs, dreams, and snores were already broadcasting themselves in his mind.

_Wait, Fury, you have to bring me back, they can't know about you! Wake up, they'll come looking for me! _

No response.

* * *

McGonagall's POV

_I will never forget that, the gravy pouring down his face! Oh my, I must catch my breath. _

The Great Hall was finally calming down. Laughter, whistles, "Oh, wows, and "Spectacular!" were echoing through the room. _Where was Severus going? To clean up? He should have left Raven here, then. _

Chatter resumed to the hall, and everybody turned around to eat. Everything was continuing as usual...

"DUMBLEDORE!" Severus burst into the hall, slamming the doors behind him after they flapped open and slammed against the wall. The gravy in his hair had made it necessary to take a shower, and his hair was clean and sleek and ungreasy. _Damn. Never thought I'd see the day._

McGonnagal noticed the stricken look on his face. She stood up, as did the other Professors. "Yes?" Dumbledore asked.

Severus gasped for breath. "Har," Gasp, heavy breath," RAVEN! I don't know what happened!"

Anger rose in Minerva. _If anything happened to that sweet little boy because of Severus, I swear, I'll-_

"GONE!" he gasped out finally.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked firmly.

"I cleaned him up, and I left him to go take a shower, and when I came back out, he was just gone!" Gasps spread through the room.

"Everyone stay here. Professor Flitwick, Madam Hooch, and Filch, you stay here with the prefects and stay in charge. All other professors and ghosts come on and spread out."

Some quick directions, and everyone was dividing and aiming for different parts of the castle.

_The poor child. Maybe some student had him? I couldn't imagine why someone would... unless they were trying to get back at Snape? No, no one would lay the blame on Raven he was too adorable. Hopefully we'll find him soon. _

After Minerva had checked the entire third floor, in every classroom, closet, or known hidden passageways, behind and underneath every table, desk, or box, and still no sign of Raven, she was getting worried.

Dumbledore's voice echoed through the halls. "All professors, meet in the Courtside Wing. Raven has been spotted."

_Finally! How on earth would he get back there? That's the farthest most secluded part of Hogwarts, as anyone who had read 'Hogwarts: A History' would know. And what do they mean he's been SPOTTED? Don't they have him? _

She arrived in the front of the Courtside Wing a couple minutes later, to see the other Professors just arriving.

"What's happened?" Professor Sage asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "The Grey Lady saw Raven on Needle Tower, and she couldn't pick him up as she is insubstantial, but that's where we're headed. Come along." He turned away and left into the Wing. The others followed.

" Needle Tower? Hasn't the thing fallen over yet? Is it safe up there?" Minerva wondered aloud.

"Contrary to popular belief, it is still standing, thanks to the charms surrounding the thing when Hogwarts was still built. The Charms were set by Helga Hufflepuff herself." Dumbledore commented.

"Oh." She acknowledged.

They found the stairs behind the large marble column, and they climbed, and climbed, and climbed.

"How high is this stupid thing?" Professor Kettleburn asked.

"Actually, it's only half the height of Gryffindor Tower."

"Then WHY the hell are we still climbing!"

"Language, Severus, language. The steps are longer then the height of the tower, but we'll get there."

Severus actually seemed worried. _Well, I guess since it's HIS son, he wants him back. Thought I've never seen Severus this... emotional... eve_r.

"Helga Hufflepuff's idea I presume?"

"Correct."

"Figures."

"Hey!" Professor Sprout interrupted.

The rest of the climb was silent. The came up, and emerged in a room...

That was showered, absolutely showered, with gold.

"This has got to be every single piece of gold in the castle!" said Professor Sage in awe.

"Look! The golden goblets!" Professor Kettleburn pointed.

"Raven!" Severus exclaimed.

He was right, sitting in a pile of gold and holding a wand in one hand, was Snape's son, sleeping.

"How did all this gold get up here?"

"How did RAVEN get up here?"

"Why does he have a wand?"

"That's my wand! It's been missing all day!"

"Well it obviously wasn't Raven who took the gold. Even if he wasn't a baby, he was with us. Someone must have brought it here over the last month or so, and then took Raven here too."

"What?"

"Who would do that? Who can get into all of the dorms, and into the kitchens without anyone noticing?"

"Strange, really strange."

"Dumbledore?"

"I haven't the slightest clue."

The room fell silent. _Dumbledore, without a clue? Oh dear. _

Raven opened his eyes and looked up at us. Severus picked him up immediately, cradling him in his arms and whispering something to him. _Normally someone would have cracked a joke, but we were all to bewildered and relieved to care. And Raven's his son. I'm not related to him, and all I was to do is hug him. Let's just leave them alone._

* * *

Professor Sage's POV

_Finally, the long hunt for Raven was over. And the mystery still unsolved. This is so exciting! _

_I swear, nothing this good's happened to Hogwarts in years. I live for this kind of thrill. I already bet Madam Rosmerta three galleons that we would find out who stole the gold within a week. More galleons for me! Wait, we found the gold, not the perpetrator. Who wins, then? I'll ask Dumbledore. Oops, I have to catch up with the others. _

Something was stirring in an open door . . .

"Ahhh!" right in front of her, jumping out of an old room, was a large, fierce, and ugly manticor. It's teeth was sharp and glistening, and the claws scratched at the floor, leaving large marks. Its little wrinkled old man snarled at her, and it licked it's lips. Saliva dripped down, and Ilonna froze in terror. _I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die . . ._

It jumped, slamming her into the ground. A scream tore out of her throat, high and insistent.

The sharp claws were digging into her shoulders, and the awful breath was on her face . . .

And suddenly the weight was gone. Ilonna Sage sat up abruptly, and watched in amazement, as the manticor appeared to be fighting with some large, invisible animal. It was also getting its ass kicked. _What's going on? Somebody help me . . ._

Suddenly blood spurted out from its neck, and the thing was dead.

The other Professors came running back; hearing her scream, so find her breathing heavily on the ground, and dead, bloody, manticor in front of her.

* * *

Dumbledore's POV

"There is just no way that the manticor could have just wandered onto the grounds like that. Absolutely impossible." Professor Kettleburn told them.

"Right, and if anyone knows its you, you're the Care of Magical Creatures professor." Professor Sprout nodded.

"But then how did it get on the grounds? And how's Ilonna?" asked Minerva.

"She's fine, just a bit clawed up. Resting, Madam Pomfrey's taking care of her." Dumbledore interjected.

"Good." Professor Kettleburn said approvingly.

It was an hour later, they had searched since lunch, and now it was already time fore dinner. They were discussing the events of that evening. None of the students had been informed about what was going on; just that Raven had been found and Professor Sage was in the infirmary.

_So the manticor had been let in. But who would do that? It wasn't a student... if it was a student I would have been aware. I know how to keep an eye on all the young ones. And the professors... which one would do it? None of them have a motive... or did they? What had made the manticor attack right when Ilonna had walked by the classroom? They had all passed it a couple times that evening, and nothing had happened to them. I must think on this. _

Dumbledore snapped back to reality at an urgent pound.

BAANNNGG! SMACK, _bounce . . . bounce . . . bounce . . ._

The door had been slammed opened, and the sides rung against the wall from the impact. It had been raining outside, and the person stepped inside dripping water. He pulled the hood of his cloak back from his face.

_It was my old friend! What would he be doing here?_ Dumbledore stood up to greet him.

"Quirrel!"

The man turned to me. "Hopefully it has been a good day, Dumbledore?" He asked soberly.

"Oh, it was a fine day. Until this rain started, and there was this one small scare, but otherwise, it was quite alright. How are you?"

"I'm well."

"Good! Come, take off your cloak, and sit down to eat with us. The house elves have made a fine meal." He nodded and came over.

"Sorry about the door, I was trying to get out of the rain."

"Understood." Albus nodded at him, and a chair floated over from wherever we currently keep the chairs, and he sat down, taking together a meal.

"So what brings you by?" the headmaster asked.

"Oh, nothing really. Trying to figure out what to do next. Do you, by any chance, have any teaching positions open?" He looked up, eyes inquiring.

"I'm sorry, I currently don't, they're all filled." Albus smiled in sympathy.

"Oh, that's all right. I was thinking about visiting my cousin Bathilda in Canada. Get the chance, finally. She wanted me fore visit for a while. Lost her husband, you know." He frowned. "Muggle accident, he was just walking down the street when a car hit him. Tragic. She needs some help with the young ones. Maybe stay there a while." He smiled. "Then..." he trailed off and stared into the sky of the ceiling.

"Then what? Have any plans?" Minerva asked.

"Well, it's always been a dream of mine to go out, maybe into Europe and adventure a bit. You know, explore, and get some experience. Meet some new people and strange creatures."

"Sounds like fun." Kettleburn grinned. "Strange new creatures? Write me if you find anything interesting. Just last year, I was off in the Alps when I came upon a six legged hippogriff. What do you think, some type of new breed?"

"It could have an aftereffect of that large curse that demolished the..." they went on talking.

Dumbledore smiled. _It's so nice to see people truly exited about something._

The other door to the Great Hall swung open, revealing Snape. He walked in toward the staff table, carrying Harry. The both of them had been gone, after Madam Pomfrey had assured them all he was unharmed, he had immediately carried him off toward the dungeons.

Harry who had been looking over Snapes shoulder twisted around, catching sight of Quirrel. Dumbledore had seen that look before . . .

When Harry's mouth opened wide, Albus snapped the fuffy pink earmuffs over his ears. He looked around._ Hmm. Perhaps I should have warned the others._

Harry still had his mouth agape, was just glaring at Quirrel. _What's this about certain people that just makes him scream? Strange, I guess I'll find out sometime. There has to be a connection... through I can't think of one, since the first was a Deatheater. _

The students were crouched underneath the tables, huddled together with their hands pressed over their ears. Professor Snape had bent over and enveloped Harry with his arms. How odd. Today Snape actually seemed to like having 'Raven' as a son. _Most people don't know it, but Severus does have his emotional moments. I guess the little guy is bringing it out of him. Who would've thought? _

The teachers around me were practically rolling in their food, eyes squeezed shut. _What is it with this baby's voice? I don't think most babies can scream this loud. Must be a gift. A gift, or a curse. I guess it depends on if you're Harry, the people who have to listen, or the person with the magical earmuffs. _

Then it was over. Harry's mouth snapped shut, and everybody's tense muscles suddenly relaxed as he slumped against each Snape.

_Safe?_ Albus took off his earmuffs.

The hall was filled with silence, and Quirrel broke it.

"What in Merlin's name was that?"

All the students were staring, and some of them nodded absently.

"That, my friends, was the lung power of one Raven Snape. Amazing, isn't it?" Dumbledore announced, amused.

He shook his head, trying to clear it. "Wow, I bet that baby could rival a banshee! I think I'll go to bed now. Immediately. Have a room?"

"Go ahead, any of the guest rooms will do. I suggest you don't take one out of the Courtside Wing, though. But you don't have to go, I don't think he'll do it again."

Quirrel shook his head and scurried off, and almost every single student followed him.

Snape, who was looking a bit shell-shocked, came and sat down with us. The nearest professors edged away.

"That- that was impossible!" Minerva bust out.

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore turned to her. "Impossible?"

"Yes!" agreed Sprout, "It's not possible to scream that loud. All of my sisters had tons of babies, and they could scream, but not like that!" she added, and shook her head incredulously.

"Inhuman!" Kettleburn burst out, showering his food with spit. He pushed it away.

"Inhuman? Are you suggesting . . ." Dumbledore asked. "No, he's human."

They turned to Snape.

"I'm human!" he defended himself.

"Yes, but was his mother?" Hooch leaned forward, suspiciously.

"I assure you, that she was completely human!" Dumbledore insisted, and they looked at him.

One by one they shrugged, letting it go.

"Still, loud . . ."

"I thought my eardrums were going to burst."

"Good night everyone, I'm going to bed. . ."


	13. The Attack

* * *

Chapter Twelve: The Attack

* * *

Micah Johovic ran through a forest. Branches snapped at his face and snagged at his robes. Where was he going? He was running away, and he was running directly back.

To Voldemort's current hideout- and headquarters.

Yes, he had escaped. He had run, using his skill in hand to hand combat to knock down the Deatheaters as they took him through the halls. His wrists burned from the abrasive chains that still hung there. He had been leaving; and he was down the hill, running back to his family, to get them safe. He had to get them safe-

And then he had heard it.

The cry.

It had come echoing down after him, from deep inside the ruins there. It was a distinctive cry of pain, from one who's voice he knew all too well- that of his precious, beautiful, and kind wife. Whom he had been married to for sixteen years and who had given him two children. He loved her more than anything in the world.

He went running back. _I must save them!_

_You fool, what are you going to do? _

_I got out myself, didn't I? I can get her out too, I can, I can, I can! I WILL! _

He got to the hidden entrance of the ruins, and he ran through the door quickly and with out a thought. Before he had taken three steps, he was in a full body bind. From the darkness came a slow, deep chuckling.

"Thought that might get you back."

He breathed hoarsely, and then realized his throat was working.

"Where's Shavonne? What have you done to her?"

"Nothing much . . . really. Do you really think we would have left them alone?"

"You're fight is with me! I'm the one who captured those Deatheaters last month! Now leave them!"

"You should have thought before you acted, Auror. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You have gotten on our bad side. And what would be a better punishment, Micah . . ."

Micah squinted. "How would you know my name . . . I know you! You're Oxford Duncan! You're our old neighbor!"

"Really?" Oxford drawled, obviously not caring.

"You were there when our son, Beau had his first birthday! You lived next door, a bachelor, so we let you come on our street picnics and parties! You, you, you-" He gasped. "How could you, after all of these years?"

Oxford Duncan didn't answer, and dragged Micah off. They entered a large room, where dead bodies lay haphazardly around, forgotten. His wife was over in the middle of the room, clutching a bundle of blankets. It was their three-month-old daughter! Why was she here? Why wasn't she safe at her grandmothers . . .

He tripped over a body, and he looked down. "Mother!" he gasped falling to his knees. He was jerked back up again. _No, no . . ._

"Shavonne! Eva!" He called, Shavonne looked up, sobbing. She didn't seem to recognize him. "Shavonne!"

A dark cloaked person stepped for ward, and wrenched the little blue-eyed girl, with soft brown curls, out of her mother's arms. Shavonne jerked at the end of her chain, and was ignored. Wails filled the room, and Micah watched, frozen and horrified, as his little baby girl . . .

A hand covered his face, and he leaned against it. Don't look, just don't look. He struggled vehemently at his chains. _No this wasn't happening- He could still save them . . . _

The wails stopped.

"Too late." Somebody murmured next to him, and jerked his shoulders towards the wall. Micah looked at the person next to him.

"Don't turn around."

He was a prisoner too, covered with grime and blood. "Welcome to the torture chamber of the Dark Lord." He said simply, seeing Micah's look. Then his eyes widened, whites showing in his shadowed face.

"Johovic!" the other person gasped out.

"Do I know you?" He said softly. _Eva..._

"It's me, Micah! James! James Potter!"

"James?"

He heard another cry, and he whipped around.

"SHAVONNE!"

She finally saw him.

"MICAH! My baby! They took my baby! Bring her back, Micah, bring her back!" She was holding a small bundle of something, and her robes were slowly staining with blood. Micah turned to the side and vomited.

Boots clicked in front of him, and he saw a shape advancing, knife in one hand, wand in the other. It advanced on his wife . . . Shavonne! He curled up. He couldn't watch.

There was a river of blood around him, slowly soaking him and the man, James, next to him. A finger floated in it, charred beyond recognition. But the lump of metal, that was unmistakable. It was the wedding ring, which he himself had put on her finger.

He sobbed into his knees.

He had put it on her, condemning her.

"It's all your fault." Someone told him sternly. _It was true. It was all his fault. He had done it to them, both of them, all of them it was entirely HIS fault._

Pain sliced through him, and he could feel his life draining out of him. It seeped away slowly, too slowly.

Guilt and misery washed over him, and he could feel every cell in his body slowly dying. It was the most painful thing he had ever gone through.

And the last.

Micah was dead.

_But my name is not Micah… its Harry Potter. _

* * *

Harry's POV

Someone was cuddling him, a warm body holding him close. Fire tickled the outside of is eyelids. _I'm surrounded . . . I had been dying. No, I 'd been somebody else, and they had died, and he had felt every, single bit of is. The pain, the guilt, the emotions. The utter despair with which the man had died._

"Sorry, Harry, I'm so sorry, it wasn't my fault, I was pulled . . . I'm so sorry Harry."

He knew the voice, he had heard it before. It was the little voice in his head, the one that everybody has, the one that knew him better than anything. It had always been the voice- of his own thoughts. It was also the voice of Gabriel, his all-conscious, that let him see anything in the world at any time. _Then it was true, it had all happened. _

* * *

Severus Snape's POV

It was early, really early in the morning. Severus' Dark Mark twinged, but it was not a call. Just a reminder.

There was something stirring in his room. _What the hell? _

"Lumos!" He lifted his wand, and looked, in the light. _Oh, it was Raven._

_No, his name is Harry. Oh well, Raven will do just fine. _

He had wrapped up Raven the night before and kept him in his own room this time. For some reason, he had felt like something was going to happen. Raven always seemed to be getting into trouble.

Nobody else seemed to want him, either. They all through he was bizarre, now, because of yesterday. _Exiled. _

_I wonder what's wrong?_ Severus picked up the little bundle of blankets, and frowned.

Raven was crying.

_Raven never cried! Even Dumbledore always said so. Yes, it was highly peculiar, that he never cried, but what were they supposed to do about it? Smack him? Bring him to a doctor? Hello doctor, this baby refuses to cry . . . _

_Even last night, that wasn't crying, that was wailing. No tears involved, only true anger._ _Strange, that. Raven must have been distressed over something._

Raven was curled up, and he was definitely crying. Not a sound escaped him, but he had a look of misery on his face. And thick, wet tears were slowly falling down his cheeks. It was the saddest, most heart-wrenching sight Severus had ever seen.

He hugged Raven to himself, and murmured softly to him, trying to calm him. Raven's eyes opened, and he laid his soft, tearstained cheek on Severus's neck, seeking reassurance.

He took Raven up, carrying him up and out of the dungeons. He knocked hesitantly on Madame Pomfrey's door_. Doctor, the baby's crying . . . that sounded even more stupid than 'he's not crying'. What's he supposed to be doing then. Nothing? I'm sorry for disturbing you, Doctor, but the baby's dead. Do you think you can help? _

_Okay, now is not the time for sarcasm, Severus, _He thought to himself, looking down at Raven. _What was that, on this forehead? _Raven moved slightly, and his thick black hair fell over it. Severus's arms were occupied. He shifted, and reached up to the locks of hair aside. He looked close. He couldn't tell, in the light, but it looked almost like a scar...

The door opened.

"What is it, at this infernal hour- aw, it's Raven. How can I help you?"

"I'm not quite sure, Poppy. He wasn't crying, not really, but he looked so sad, and there were tears pouring down his cheeks. I thought something might be wrong."

Light filtered through the opened door, and he passed Raven to Madam Pomfrey. Again,in the light, Snape pushed the glossy raven colored hair back... _I must have been mistaken._ There was nothing there.

Poppy frowned as Raven opened his eyes again, and lifted his head, looking her in the eyes desolately. "Poor baby- Severus, why don't you go get Dumbledore? I think you might be right."

Severus left, walking briskly. He was almost at Albus's private chambers when he ran into Dumbledore himself. Completely with long white nightrobes and beard swishing behind him.

"Dumbledore! What's going on?" Snape grabbed one of his shoulders.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Something's wrong... I can feel it. I'm sounding the alarm." He pulled out his wand. "Accersitus!"

A long, endless bell rung through the halls of Hogwarts. "Everyone should be in the Great Hall within a few minutes." Dumbledore started off briskly. "Come along."

_If DUMBLEDORE thought something was wrong, wrong enough to set alarms ringing through the entire school..._ "I left Raven with Poppy." Snape blurted out.

"They'll be fine. They should be in the hall when we get there." Dumbledore turned around. "Wait, what did you do that for? Why were you over here, anyway? Insomnia?"

"No." Severus shook his head. "Raven was upset. He was crying."

"Crying? Are you okay?"

"No, no, not THAT kind of crying. Like weeping."

"Weeping?" Dumbledore's eyebrows flew up. "That can't be good. Just a minute. I have a better way." He slapped the side of a tapestry, with a standing bear on an orange pattern. It rolled up, like a window blind, revealing a long, black hole. Albus motioned. "Just jump in!"

_What's this? I don't know this passage. And why do I have bad feeling about this? _

Severus jumped in. Instead of being transported, or coming upon stairs or a ladder of some sort, he fell.

_No, falling is like tripping. Now, falling down through some dark shaft in the middle of Hogwarts is simply called PLUMMETING. _

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" _What was Dumbledore thinking? This is INSANE!_

Above him- "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Dumbledore was plummeting right after him. A couple second later, they suddenly slowed to a stop, and hit something hard, which sent them rolling- down a long plank which flipped forward out of a wall- and they spun to a stop in the middle of the Great Hall.

The professors and students stood, staring in astonishment. Everyone, from Peeves to Trelawney, was there.

"Wha-" Minerva gaped.

Dumbledore stood up. Severus just sat. He felt like kissing the floor, but somehow that might have made the situation worse than it already was. _Reputation wise, that is._

"Why did you send the alarm call, Headmaster?" Professor Sinistra asked, coming to her senses.

"There's something-"

**BANG! **

He stopped, and every single head turned towards the front door.

**BANG! **

Somebody was pounding on it violently from the outside.

**BANG! **

Utter silence.

**BANG! **

The door cracked a bit in the middle, and everybody jumped out of their stupor and swung into action. Dumbledore called out over the heads, "Everybody, follow the Gryffindors! Hide up in the Gryffindor tower, and don't come out. That's the farthest from the ground; I think we're being attacked! Professors-"

**BANG! **

"- stay here!" More splintering. People ran.

**BANG! **

_RAVEN! Where was Raven?_ Severus searched the seething crowd for the sight of his son. No, his 'son'. Probably the closest to a son he would ever get, through.

**BANG- CRAACCKK! **

The door caved inwards. _Was that_ _possible? What about the wards? There was so much protecting Hogwarts... how would anyone get through?_

People poured in, dressed in black cloaks. _Were they Deatheaters? No, I would have known... unless Voldemort found out about me being a spy..._ Severus headed toward the trespassers.

The students had left, and he could finally see Poppy, following them. _Yes! Raven was safe..._ a black cloaked man suddenly grabbed Poppy and pulled her back. Raven was wrenched out of her hands, and she was thrown down. Her head hit the ground, and Poppy stayed on the floor, unconscious.

"Raven!" Severus yelled. The other professors saw what had happened, and in the frenzy and the yelling they all went for the black cloaked man that had stolen Raven.

More Deatheaters ran through, filling the space between them. Severus cursed one, and it... disintegrated. All over the hall, the intruders, once attacked, were falling to pieces. Arms ripped off in grip, cloaks tore into rags.

A head rolled to his feet. Snape picked it up, and looked at it.

_What the hell?_ _It's Micah Johovic, a known Auror! His son, Beau, is a first year Ravenclaw. _

He looked around him. Broken, rotting flesh everywhere, an overwhelming stink... "ZOMBIES!" He roared at the tope of his lungs, and was echoed all over the hall, in shrieks of terror and revulsion from the staff. _Zombies- sent by Voldemort, to attack Hogwarts. They had taken Raven- where was he now . . .? _

A zombie right in front of him suddenly exploded. Then another one, and another, in a row, they simply were shoved down by some unknown force. They were being destroyed. He looked down at the remains at his feet. They were slowly changing- into pale blue teddy bears.

_Huh? _

The trail went by Hagrid, who reached out and seemed to be holding something in his hand. "Fury!" he cried out. Comprehension dawned on his face.

_What? _

Hagrid fumbled at something, and suddenly a creature appeared, struggling in his hand. _It was... a gryphon? It was!_ _Teeth, talons, and a tendency to hoard gold. Hey, that's what's been stealing all the gold, it was an invisible gryphon! That made sense. _

_But why an invisible gryphon? How did Hagrid know the gryphon? Well, you can usually expect Hagrid to know and name all DANGEROUS creatures within a five mile radius. _

_This gryphon was also the one who had stolen Raven, yesterday. To eat him, maybe? _

Severus forced his way through the throng of the undead.

"Hagrid- what-?"

"Oh, Snape. This here's Fury. A baby gryphon I gave to little Harry Potter last month. Don't know what she's doing here, though. She bonded with Harry. She protected him from Deatheaters, and the like."

Snape suddenly remembered the gesture Lily Potter had made with her hand in Madame Rosmerta's. She had been carrying Fury, to protect Raven. _Of course! No sane mother would simply leave her baby, not without protection of some sort. And Hagrid had seen Raven, as Harry Potter, right when he was born. Good thing he hadn't gotten a good look at Raven then, he would have been recognized. And revealed, maybe? Who knows, Hagrid's an impulsive fellow. _

"Let her go, and we'll follow her to Raven!"

"Wha?"

"Raven Snape is Harry Potter in disguise!" Severus told him.

"OH! That explains a lot."

"Go!"

"'Aight." He dropped the now visible gryphon, who continued her destruction spree through the mob. She was suddenly grabbed and piled on.

Everything went to a standstill. In a matter of seconds, the rest of the Zombies had disappeared, either making it through the door or returning to their maker. _Or hell, wherever they had come from. _They left behind nothing but dead debris.

Raven was gone. Snape stood in shock, staring around at the exhausted professors.

"It seems." Dumbledore said softly. "They got what they wanted."

"No!" Severus ran to the door, and looked out. The night was still and silent. Not a single cricket chirped.

* * *

Harry's POV

_What was going on?_ He had been jolted out of his painful, horrible nightmare.

He was kidnapped. The decaying faces leered at him, and soft, mushy limbs, were carrying him through the night. And what looked like the Forbidden Forest. He could remember Snape, and Madam Pomfrey, lots of faces...

Harry screamed. Using his banshee heritage to its full potential, he hollered with every fiber of his being.

The trees around him bent from the force of the scream. The grass was flattened, the small animals dropped dead, the insects disappeared with little 'pop's. The clouds wavered, and blew away, and the light drizzle that was dripping down, suddenly started to fall UPWARD.

Some of the zombies imploded and fell to the ground. The rest decayed a bit, but none of them responded. Harry stopped. It wasn't working, they were dead already...

There was a yip and a howl from behind them.

There was a moment of silence, and then the scream came echoing back down off the full moon. It was a month, just a month ago when Harry and Professor Snape had come through the forest...

The werewolves were roaming tonight. They had heard his call, the call of a friend, and they had come. A huge pack, dozens and dozens of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness behind them.

The zombies ran, and the werewolves chased. The undead state of the zombies took over, and they ran so fast their feet started to corrode. The werewolves kept up, and their supernatural speed began to prevail. They were gaining.

They had run so far, Harry no longer recognized where they were. Scenery flashed by, faster and faster, and farther and farther. Lakes, and trees, and rivers and houses, all gone in a flash. The speed stared to push Harry back into the chest cavity of the zombie carrying him. Internal organs slushed against his bare skin. Harry shrieked again. _This is sickening!_

The werewolves sped up, and attacked. From the back of the horde, to the front, the zombies were torn to pieces. Until at last, they had all been slayed, protecting him. Now Harry and the last zombie were all alone, and surrounded.

The werewolves tore at the zombie's legs. Slowly, he was ripped down, until he no longer had the ability to function. He fell apart, and Harry dropped.

One of the werewolves jumped forward. He tried to stop the descent of the falling baby, and he caught Harry swiftly in his mouth.

Teeth ripped into Harry's shoulder . . . .

He was dropped to the ground. The werewolves looked horrified.

"Shoo!" They looked up at something, beyond Harry's line of vision. Then they ran, off into the night.

A woman was standing over him. Her age was undetermined. She had a kind of everlasting youth about her, as well as the impression of great age. She had long, brown hair, silky and flowing down to her ankles. Her eyes were a dark, but warm green. Like the color of a leaf. Looking into them made Harry feel better. She was tall, and her skin was a tanned brown, and unmarred. She moved with the grace of a tree bending in the wind. She was, in short, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

So beautiful, she was obviously not human.

Blood was trickling down his back, from the bite marks. He had been bitten, in his fall... by a werewolf.

His eyes widened in shock. The woman reached down and picked him up. "It's all right..." he voice was like the whisper, no the touch of the wind. It was calm, and wise. "Everything is just fine, little one."

She walked gracefully, in a smooth gait. The sun was rising, and they were surrounded with golden light. Trunks, branches and leaves glowed, silhouetted. They were in a large grove of trees, all kind of trees, and it was peaceful there. More heads, of beautiful inhuman women, rose out from behind the trees and they looked at him. One by one, they smiled.

"It's all right, we'll take care of you." Her hand spread out over his back, was like a southing poultice. "Welcome, little one. I am Gaea, the hamadryad, and you are in The Grove . . ."


	14. The Wish of the White Trees

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: The Wish of the White Trees

* * *

Lily's POV

They had flown for several days this time, and Lily was anxious to get there. Not that Cortez wasn't great company, now that Lily had figured out the basics of the language that the rocs and the banshees communicated with she understood everything he had to say.

He was young, and he didn't know anything about the humans or their world. Lily told him, through the day long tales of books she had read, things she had gone through in life, and her family.

Cortez was wise beyond what she knew. He knew of time, and space, and light, and sky. He spoke with the poetic ability of the air itself. His smooth, whistling notes lulled her to sleep, on his wide feathers, each as wide as her hands.

THWUMPK! Chit, chit, chit chit . . . .

Lily was jolted awake. What was going on? Cortez was crying out in pain! All around her, there was a rain of arrows. We were being shot at! The little arrows seemed to bounce off, but there were huge, yard long arrows, with poisonous spikes at the end, that protruded through Cortez's wings from below.

"Cortez!" Lily cried in anguish.

Cortez started to glide, but then he faltered, and they just fell. Lily clung to Cortez. She worried for him. _I hope he's going be alright... who was shooting?_

Lily had been horrified at the thought of falling before, but now she knew what to do.

The ground was approaching. She shut her eyes, and held on with a death grip. And hummed, with all her might.

They slowed to a stop, right above the ground. She lay Cortez down gently, and dropped to the ground beside him. He was bleeding from the large puncture wounds, and the viciously barbed points were still stuck in his wings. "Cortez!" His eyes fluttered open.

'Lily. It hurts.' He whistled softly.

_And he was only a baby roc!_ She hugged him.

"Who are you?"

Lily snapped her head up. A young woman stood there, long blonde hair swaying with the breeze. There was something strange about her that Lily couldn't place.

"Did you do this?" she asked harshly.

The girl shook her head. "No, it was not me, nor my people. 'Twas the Eaters."

"The Eaters?" Lily looked off in the direction the girl had gestured to.

"Yes, the others. They kill. They will attack, sometimes for no apparent reason."

Lily stood up. The girl grabbed her shoulder. "But tou musn't go there! you will be killed also!"

Lily nodded in understanding. She held out a hand. "I'm Lily Potter."

"Of the Lonely People." The girl nodded. She ignored the handshake, and Lily dropped her arm after a couple seconds. "I am named Gallia."

"Lonely people? Who are they, the humans?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No, not the magic-less, nor the magic-with, but the Lonely Ones."

Lily shook her head. "Whatever. Who are YOUR people, then?"

"We are the old ones. The Elves." She whistled, and it echoed through the white trees they were surrounded by. _White trees? What the . . ._ The trunk was smooth as glass and as white as snow, and the leaves were a bleached white, also. The ground under them was clear and unlittered. None of the leaves ever fell. Their unnaturalness vibrated in the air, and Lily coulod feel it rebound off her currently nonexistent wings. They were there, just beyond the surface... waiting to take her over again. Lily shuddered and backed away from the trees.

Several people came walking towards them. They had the same long, light hair, delicate features, willowy frames, and pointed ears.

Finally, the Elves. "I need your help!" Lily blurted out. "Please, take me with you!"

They looked at her calmly. "As you wish. We shall bring the wounded winged one, as well." They picked Cortez up, and started off. The Elves, when in front of the white trees, with their pale skin and white clothing blended right in so Lily just followed the hovering form of Cortez as he was borne through the trees. The elves were silent.

The farther they walked, the whiter the trees seemed to get, until they were just about glowing.

"Who are the Lonely Ones?" Lily asked Gallia.

Gallia looked thoughtful. "The Lonely Ones are the exiled ones, the ones called bad and evil by the rest of the world. A long time ago, when the world was barely new and the all the peoples already lived on the land, the exiled people made a blood pact. This blood pact was passed down through generations. You have it."

The banshees had referred to something like this... all the supposedly 'dark' creatures were allies. "What do you mean, I 'have it'?" she asked curiously. Gallia took Lily's arm, and pressed one single finger to the forearm, where a thin line crossed from one side to another.

"But that's just a birthmark!"

"No. It was passed on to you from your elders. That is the place on where your ancestor cut herself, and joined her blood with that of the others, and they became the Lonely Ones. They stay apart from the rest, and nary a one will harm the other."

"Who's in the pact?" Lily wondered.

"They-who-smell-bad-with-wings, they-who-become-wolves-with-the-moon, they- who-scream-with-death, they-who-drink-blood-with-teeth, they-who-have-seal- skin, they-who-seduce-with-singing, they-who-have-animal-parts, and many more."

So, that was banshees, werewolves, vampires, sirens, and harpies. What were the others? Selkies, I think, and orcs. Hmm. I wonder who else? There are so many dark creatures, probably most of them, if she doesn't want to recite them all.

"So they don't hurt each other, because of this blood pact." Lily stated.

"Yes. They physically cannot harm each other. If they-who-become-wolves- with-moon bit someone, they would become like themselves. But if another in the blood pact was bitten, it wouldn't work. Or it would work wrong."

"So I'm immune to werewolf bites?"

"And bite of they-who-drink-blood-with-teeth."

"Nice!"

Gallia gave a strange look. "You are odd, woman who is named as flower."

"Thank you!" Lily said with relish.

They came upon the direct center of the forest. Another strange thing about the forest was that it appeared completely symmetrical, and all trees seemed to be evenly placed. They glowed a degree more with every row of trees, and now Lily was in a clearing filled with soft light. Elves moved around gracefully, and they stopped, smiling.

"We welcome you to Liosalfar." They told her, and all came over to where she was. _Weird, there are no children. _

The roc was laid down, and some elves began to work the arrows out of his wings, staunched his blood flow, and applied some kind of healing herbal remedy. Cortez relaxed as the pain left him.

The other elves turned to Lily. "Now, what is you are seeking from us, she who is named as flower? What is your distress?"

"My husband was taken from me!" Lily told them dramatically. Then she started her story from the beginning, and they listened. She told them that she had their blood, from her grandfather, who had been half elf, half faerie. "Can you help me? Anything! Anything would help."

The clearing was filled with silence. The elves appeared to be giving each other looks. Lily was confused. _Please say yes, please say yes, after the faeries, I don't think I can afford another loss... _

"Later." Gallia said suddenly. "First we will attend to your wounded friend."

_Fine._ Lily nodded in agreement. They walked over to where Cortez lay. His wounds were all bandaged up, and he looked up at her and whistled.

'It feels like a cold! Like the wind, blowing over my feathers, cooling them, and soothing the pain. I feel lots better now.'

"That's great, Cortez." Lily smiled at him, and sat down at his side. Everyone was still bustling.

It was almost dark when I entered the forest . . . so it must be night now! She concluded. The Elves kept working, building, and playing. They were calm, and seemingly emotionless. This would be a boring life. They are so . . . dull!

Lily was drifting to sleep again. Thoughts and echoes of memories bounced around in her head.

"They never stop, they never sleep, they never age, and they never die . . ."

"Elves are cold blooded, no feelings, living forever . . ."

"Never stop . . . never die . . ."

Lily opened her eyes. Her head, as usual was cushioned on Cortez's wings. The sky above the glowing trees feigned sunset. The elves went on as if the day never had ended, or begun. That's probably what it was for them, one long, long day. Most people would want immortality, but if you really think about it, I wouldn't want it.

Cortez was awake too, and ruffled his feathers with ease. 'I think I'm healed!' he said with joy.

An elf came up next to Lily, and peeled off the bandages. They came off without difficulty, and underneath the flesh was whole. The elves surrounded them, and smiled.

Lily smiled back. "How can I thank you?" she asked.

"You cannot help us with our problems." Said a male elf looking off into the distance. The rest of them stopped smiling, and looked in the same direction.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked. _What could possible disturb an elf? All of these elves? They invited me here; I if they hadn't I probably wouldn't have found my way. Intruders can't possibly be an issue. _

"The trees are dying." Gallia told her sadly. "They are loosing their glow. We are afraid of loosing our sanctuary, Liosalfar, in which we have dwelled for centuries."

_The trees were dying._ "Take me there." Lily told them, and they looked at her, shocked.

They exchanged looks again, and then complied. They led her through the forest, back out of the center, until they came to the end of the trees. They were right, the glow was failing, and the branches were withering. "Give me space." Lily told them, and they backed up in a big circle.

If she listened, really, really hard, she could hear the song of nature. Cortez crowed in disappointment; he could tell he was losing Lily again. She was slipping away...

She started to dance. It was the dance of the healthy, growing trees. She adapted a dance, making a new one. The dance of the white glowing trees, in all their glory. A soft crooning banshee song escaped her lips, singing to the forest, and the need for it to protect the elves.

The Elves watched in amazement. Lily danced, and the trees started to un- wither, becoming healthier and stronger before their eyes. She kept dancing. It was beautiful, and it was helping, but it would not last.

"It's not going to work." Said the same male elf as before. "After you leave, and stop dancing, they will slowly die again. The world is creeping up on us, and one day we will be flushed out." The elves nodded, and frowned.

Lily swayed up to him, feet light. She held out her arms, and took his hands in hers.

The elves sighed as the beautiful spectacle stopped. Lily looked into the eyes of the elf.

"Make a wish, and your deepest desire will come true." She told him. She was glowing like the trees around her, their health coming off her in waves from the power of her dance. The elves were stunned.

The elf holding her hands gasped. "I wish that the trees will stand strong, healthy, and everlasting, of course! That they love forever, like us."

Lily smiled, and then yelped in pain and arched her back as the ripping sensation came. The trees brightened as if never before, and stayed.

The elves cheered. And Lily found herself back to her senses again. Cortez nuzzled her with his beak.

Lily was ecstatic. _I helped them! I really did it!_

The crowd quieted, and Gallia stepped forward. "This is far beyond the healing of a small wound. We shall repay you."

_Oh yeah, James, here I come! _

"First," Gallia said, and reached dup into a tree, pulling down a leaf. She opened Lily's hand, and placed it inside, closing her hands again and laying her own around them. There was a small tingling sensation. When Gallia let go, Lily pulled apart her hands. The leaf was gone, and on each palm was the white, silvery imprint of the leaf, symmetrical and oblong in a beautiful way.

"You shall roam free over our lands whenever you wish." Lily smiled with gratitude at this announcement.

"And second," Gallia continued, and Lily leaned forward in anticipation. "You shall have the truth."

"What?" Lily gasped out. _What does that mean, the truth? What truth? What about James?_

"The truth." Gallia said, looking her in the eyes. "We were going to send you on your way as soon as your friend healed, but in appreciation we shall tell the truth. We cannot help you, for you have come to the wrong people."

"The wrong people?" Lily repeated faintly. _They weren't going to help me, after all... _

"You are not of us. Our kind does not breed with those not like ourselves."

"But Camellia said I had elf blood! She even had an elven protection spell she placed on my son! How can I not be related to you? Cortez was leading me straight toward you guys!"

"Not to us, to the Eaters! You may be an elf, but you are not of us. You are one of the others."

"The Eaters? They're the ones who shot at Cortez!"

"Yes. The Dark Elves."

_...what? Dark Elves? But they were evil! Cortez could have died! I can't be related to THEM? _

"Would they help me?" Lily asked. _Who knows what was on the mind of 'The Eaters'. Even the name was ominous._

"You cannot go there! They hate all others, and would kill you if you went too close. They would kill your friend too, for eating! They eat everything!" Gallia grabbed her arm. "You knows you can't go there, woman who is named as flower. Find someone else to help you and your husband."

Lily felt despair tear at her. _No. I couldn't ask dark elves for help. Not after what they did to Cortez._ She walked off, the roc following her.

They left the elves behind, behind to live forever without really living at all.

Lily climbed on Cortez's back.

"Take me back to Hogwarts." She said softly.

_I have failed. _


	15. Raven's Mother

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Raven's Mother

* * *

Voldemort's POV

In the very center of Voldemort's Castle, as he had taken to calling his hideout, was a very large room. The walls were stone and bare. There was not a single window in the entire room, and it was filled with darkness. In each corner burned a dim, flickering fire. In this room, if you listened really closely, you could hear the anguished screams from the torture chamber right below. Beneath that was the dungeons, the holding cells, meeting rooms, library, Deatheater chambers where they stayed, yadda, yadda, yadda. It was all unimportant.

Voldemort liked to call this room The Throne Room. Or the planning room, or groveling room, whatever happening to be going on at the time. His plans were working, everything was fine. Except for one thing.

Voldemort didn't have any plans, nor did he have a clue what was going on! And this made him frustrated, and when he was frustrated, heads rolled. The dungeons were emptying at an alarming rate.

"Shissskae." He hissed in parseltongue.

Something wreathed behind his chair. "Yessss Masssster?" Shissskae answered.

"I am ssssspeculating on killing Potter." _Interesting prospect, he had been mucking around the torture chamber for a month now... Slytherin knows what he's been brewing_.

Shissskae shook his head vehemently. "No, Massster, everything is going according to plan!"

"Whosssse plan?"

"Yoursss! You shall become immortal, and all your enemies will be desssstroyed!" That was one good thing about the naga prophet; he always seemed to say what the Lord wanted to hear. Shissskae's human face scrunched up in concentration.

"Keep Potter alive, and all ssshall come to you Massster. They are on their way now . . . ."

* * *

Snape's POV

The Forest had been searched, and nothing had been found. The disappearance had been reported to the Aurors under the name Raven Snape, but at least the description was accurate. The search for James now extended to Harry too, and there was nothing anyone at Hogwarts could do except hope. This frustrated Snape to no end, and he was rather irritable. _They probably ate Raven; or turned him into a zombie,_ thought Severus grimly. _Or even worse, delivered him to Voldemort._

The usual chatter of the great hall had dies down to the minimum, and everyone ate silently, thoughts on other things.

**BANG! **

There was a slam on the door, and everyone leaped under the tables.

"Ahhhh!"

"Another attack!"

"Zombies! Run!"

There was a moment of silence. "Hello? Dumbledore? Severus?"

People looked at each other, and then climbed back into their seats, embarrassed. Dumbledore let out a snort of laughter as he went to the door. He opened it, and was shoved to the side. There was a flash of red hair, and suddenly Snape knew who it was.

_Lily Potter! Come back... for Harry. Oh shit. _

"Where's my baby?" she asked, looking around. She didn't see Harry anywhere, and she turned to Dumbledore. There was something different about her, and she was travel beaten. It wasn't immediately obvious who she was, not many of them had thought of the quiet Gryffindor girl since she had left school. Nobody recognized her, from the faces at the staff table.

"Er," Dumbledore winced, and didn't meet her eyes.

She turned around, green eyes falling on Snape. "Severus!" she stomped up angrily. "Where in HELL is my BABY?" she gripped the collar of his robe, and jerked him up. "Tell me where he is RIGHT NOW!"

_What should I say? _

The people at the staff table suddenly realized what was going on, after getting a good look at Lily's blazing green eyes.

"Oh!" Minerva suddenly cried out. "You're the mother . . ."

"YOU BET I AM!"

"Er, come, why don't we discuss this in the other room?" Severus grabbed her arm. _That weird contact of Dumbledore had said that hell would pay if anyone found out about Harry. She was a seer, wasn't she? Camellia Chant, that was it. It was true, it would really suck if, after all this, they found out that he was lying about his son. Better get this out of the Great Hall. We wouldn't want anyone to know that Harry Potter, the one who Voldemort was looking for, was out there, alone, either in the Dark Lord's hands or alone, up for the taking . . . I can't let anything happen to him. Chaos would ensue . . . everybody would be really angry. Especially said baby's mother . . . _

Dumbledore, Lily, and Snape were now in an empty room.

Lily closed her eyes and appeared to be counting. "Where is my baby?" she said really calmly. "IF YOU DON"T TELL ME RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR, I..."

She suddenly punched Snape in the face. "I trusted you!" He reeled back. _Whoa..._

Dumbledore grabbed her by the shoulder.

"It's not Severus's fault, Lily."

"What happened?" She now looked on the verge of tears.

"Zombies attacked the school suddenly, and they ran off with Harry. We did everything we could, but zombies are supernatural creatures. We couldn't do anything in time. That little gryphon massacred about half of them, though."

Lily shook her head. "And they're dead, not part of the pact... Fury?"

As if in answer, the door was nosed open and the little gryphon came into the room. She sniffed tentatively at the air. Lily suddenly burst into sobs, and Fury ran forward, crying out, and Lily hugged her.

Lily crushed Fury to her chest, and they huddled together on the floor. Tears came out of Fury's eyes, and poured down next to her beak. "It's not your fault," Lily told her softly. "I know you tried your hardest."

Severus averted his eyes. It was a private moment, as the two cried together.

Suddenly Lily was on her feet, and out the door, Fury at her heels. "Wait!" Severus called, but it was too late. _She didn't know about the disguise yet!_

They ran after, and found them in the Great Hall. Raven's mother reached the middle of the room, and she sang. The tone poured from her lips like water, and it filled the room. It was just as penetrating as Raven's cry, only without the anger. This call was of mourning.

The note became stronger, and her feet lifted off the ground. What the heck... she was floating! Lily Potter lifted up into the air, head thrown back. The hall started in awe. Her long fire red hair swung around her in a whirlwind-

"I WILL find my son." She said firmly.

Fury leapt up, and pumped her wings, drawing up to the flying woman. There was a gust of wind, and the doors slammed shut. They were gone.

"Banshee!" Professor Kettleburn and Quirrel yelled out at the same time.

Every single pair of eyes in the hall turned to Snape.

He smacked himself in the forehead, and moaned.

* * *

Harry's POV

Harry opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep- _with the hamadryads! Gaea, that was her name._ She was still holding him, and this time they were surrounded with other dryads. They were sitting comfortably at the top of some tree in the Grove.

"Gaea?" he said suddenly.

"You talk, little one?" she looked down, and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess." _Oops. On the contrary, she seemed to be perfectly fine with the baby talking._

"These are my friends. We are the hamadryads, the tree sprites that live with the trees." She said simply. Harry shifted his weight, and pain shot through his shoulder like lightning. He cried out, and she laid her hands over the bandaged wound.

"It's a werewolf bite! I'm a werewolf!" Harry shrieked in horror. The Dryads winced, and Gaea patted the trunk of their tree. _No! This isn't... no!_

"Calm down, little one. If the man-wolfs had bitten you, you would have changed last night into one of them. But you didn't. Tell me, what are you?"

_What am I?_ "I think I'm kind of a human-banshee-elven hybrid. I think."

She nodded in understanding. "Because of that, you weren't changed. You will be fine, little one."

"Oh. That's good." _What a relief!_ "How much time had passed? Since I came here?"

"You slept since yesterday, all through today until now." Gaea said, looking up at the sun. "Why were they after you?" she asked.

"The zombies were kidnapping me, and they were trying to help. Oh! Do you think you can bring me home?" _That would solve everything; I could be back at Hogwarts by nightfall . . ._

The dryads froze. "Leave the Grove . . ." they whispered, gasping.

_Okay, maybe not._ A whimper of pain suddenly snuck through the silence of the Grove. The dryads playing, talking, and climbing the trees stopped, and turned towards the sound. They climbed down, and ran, carrying Harry with them.

Behind some other trees, deep in the shadows, a sister dryad sat, and they crowded around her. She had her knees up to her chest, and she was crying softly. Her skin was pale and sallow, and she was thin. Her hair was dirty and ragged. She was beautiful, but very sick looking. The dryad had her back against a tree, which was skeletal and unhealthy looking.

The others touched her shoulder, and murmured in sympathy.

"What's wrong with her?" Harry asked softly and respectfully. Gaea kissed his forehead. "She is dying, little one."

"Dying!"

"Yes. A hamadryad is born and and dies with her tree. If the tree is sick, nothing can be done . . ."

_Like cancer to humans, _Harry thought. He remembered a song his mother used to sing to him when he was sick, it always made him feel better, and he hummed it softly. The dying dryad looked up, and took him in her arms. She cuddled baby Harry to herself, tears rolling down and dropping on his head. He hugged her back.

Harry looked up. _If only the tree were healthy..._ he reached out and touched the trunk, caressing it. _It was so sad..._

"Look!" The dryads were pointing.

He turned around. "What? What?" they were chattering happily. Unknowingly, he was imitating his mother's feat of a few days before.

"The tree- it just grew new leaves! Don't stop!"

"How can it just grow new leaves?" But he complied, and the dying dryad held him out to the trunk. The tree was growing taller, green leaves sprouting, and branched swirling up to the sunset. At last it stopped. The dryads were grinning.

His dryad leapt up and jumped around. "You save my tree! You saved my tree!"

The rest of them joined her, dancing around, which looked like a group of trees blowing about in a storm. _I made the tree grow? Could it be some kind of weird inherited thing? _Probably. Harry grinned at their antics.

"Little one, my name is Lorain." His dryad said, hugging Harry to herself again. Then she held him up to the tree and the sunset. "I name you Rai, of the-"

She was cut off as a voice cut through the Grove. She jumped up into her trees, and they huddled in the branches. Within matter of seconds, every single dryad had disappeared into her tree.

They peeked down. There were humans in the Grove! There was a man, an older boy, and a little girl.

"Why is it so silent here?"

"Yeah, where are we Da?"

He stopped and looked around. "Children, we should leave this place." He paused, eyes searching through the trees. The branches rustled as they dryads moved around, and the humans jumped back in surprise. "I believe we are in a Dryad Grove."

"I want to see a Dryad!"

"Aren't they supposed to be terribly beautiful?"

"Yes, but they wouldn't accept us. When we're here, not a single one will come down from their tree. They only come down for pure people, like babies."

"Really? Wow! What about Shandra, if we left her here alone would they come down?"

"I'm NOT a baby!"

"No, it wouldn't work, and we couldn't risk it anyway. Come. Your mother will be worried about us."

They left in the same direction that they started. The teenage boy kept looking behind him, at the trees. _Have I seen him somewhere before? _Harry wondered. _I could swear he looks familiar..._

They were gone. The dryads slowly came back down. "That happens sometimes." Lorain stated. "We have no way of keeping others from coming inside the Grove. Most people respect us, though. If not, and they're trying to hurt our trees, we can always walk up to them, swaying our hips, and then run away again . . ." she smiled mischievously.

The sun was going down, and they all watched it. The moon was over there, full, and round.

"Time to sleep." Lorain said cheerfully. "Rai, little one, you are staying with me." she started to walk towards her tree, just as the sun went down Harry jerked, and Lorain dropped him in surprise.

_What was going on?_ Pain was ripping through his body, the muscles tearing, the bones snapping. It hurt like a cruciatus curse. Everything went red for a moment, and Harry blinked. He howled.

He looked down. _Paws!_ Behind him_... a tail!_ He could see in the dark, and he pranced forward, bumping into Lorain. _What the... but, but, but . . ._

She looked down at him, eyes wide.

"You appear to be a werepuppy!" she remarked.


	16. The First

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: The First

* * *

Harry's POV

"Mmmm . . ." he complained softly to the hand shaking his shoulder. _Not now. I'm WAY too tired._

Harry could feel himself falling asleep again, at the same time the shaking became more insistent and a voice seemed to penetrate in is head.

**_Harry, time to wake up. _**

_What?_ He sat up, and managed to pry his eyelids open. _What was going on? I'm not a baby anymore. _

_I'm in the infirmary!_ Harry looked around, almost expecting to see Madam Pomfrey, or one of his friends waiting around as they usually did when he was in the infirmary for one reason or the other. _What happened to my parents? The dryads? I was just there, and something had been happening to me, I was a werewolf- or puppy. _

_Am I back in my own time? No! But what about my parents? I haven't had enough time with them yet. We have to all get together, and have a happy ending... _

There was a tap on his shoulder, and an old man was sitting there. No, it was not Dumbledore, who usually occupied that spot next to his bed after something strange. It was an older man, if that was possible. No, it was an ancient man. He wore the same silky white robes that the people in Lily and Harry's joint dream had about her as a baby, and the people who had come to the door during the baby shower. _Could they know each other? Then maybe he knows Camellia!_ His face was wrinkled, and his back was hunched, he had very long, pure white hair, but that wasn't what made him look old. It was the eyes. They didn't have the twinkle that Dumbledore's did, and they looked kind of sad. And serious, and just very, very old. They were, however, filled with a wisdom that Harry was positive that he himself would never possess.

"Don't be so sure." The old man said in a soft voice.

_The voice in my mind sounded exactly like that ..._ "Did you read my mind?" Harry leaned forward.

"Yes, I did. It's probably true, you will never possess my wisdom, but don't doubt yourself. You have something far more precious."

"Really? Who are you? What's going on? Where am I?"

The old man nodded at his questions. "I had a name, once. It is long gone. You may call me The First."

"The First?" _What? He doesn't seem senile, but then you never know. Nah... I don't think he's senile, I think he just has a lot of secrets._ Harry decided to temporarily shut up, and listen. No doubt he was he was the one who had brought Harry here.

"Yes, as you are The Thirteenth."

"Me?" Of what? Harry added silently. The First looked serenely at Harry as he thought that, and Harry knew he had heard it.

"You know of the three awarenesses, the present, the past, and the future. We number the people who have the ability to use these. Generally, there are about thirteen at a time, as it takes thirteen together to change time. The twelve who are now living had been waiting for awhile for you to come along so we could use your past awareness working with ours to change the otherwise inevitable."

"Yeah, that. Er, so, what did you bring me back here for?" Harry asked, looking around the empty infirmary.

"To see. Come. I will answer your questions later. As for now, you are in Hogwarts. You have spent the last couple months in a coma. Your friends were extremely worried, and nobody could diagnose your illness. In the mean time, you were in the past with your parents."

Harry was now extremely confused. _I thought I went back in time? _

"You did." The First said infuriatingly.

Harry frowned._ When will that guy get out of my brain?_

"Excuse me, it is my nature. I will do my best not to pry."

"Er... okay." It was an awkward conversation.

Harry followed The First through the door and down towards the Great Hall. "Why am I here?" he asked.

"To illustrate a point." The First stopped, and looked at him for a moment without answering. "The world is descending into a new, dark era. The Twelve have been watching it approach for a long time, aware yet unable to stop it without a Thirteenth. We weren't even sure if a Thirteenth would arrive in time, that's not a matter we can foresee. When your mother was born, we were hopeful, but while she has seeing ability, she's not quite strong enough to be one of us. Then you were born, fortunately. We had to wait for you to grow old enough to use your abilities, and by then it was almost too late. So we immediately brought your mature mind back through time as far as we could take it, which is to the womb, so that we could stall for as much time as possible during which to fix things. We didn't tell you everything immediately, it's better if you experienced this future and lived in the past for you to fully understand. Thus far, nothing was changed, and this future still stands."

"My parent's still die, and I would live exactly the same life?" Harry confirmed.

The First nodded. "I'll return you shortly, and we can try and change things. I thought perhaps you should see what would have happened in your future, had you stayed here. Say farewell to your old life, because in your new life things will be different, and you will never return here again."

Harry felt a pang of loss in his chest. But he had lots to live for, parents to save, and his favorite bits could probably be relived.

"I'll always keep my memories?" Harry asked.

"They'll fade, as memories do, but they won't be taken from you," The First clarified. "Don't think of yourself as separate from your infant self. You are one person, it only seems like two because you have two sets of memories."

They walked through the Great Hall, which was silent and empty. "I'm ready," Harry said. _Ready to see what you've brought me here to show me, and ready to say goodbye. _

At the entrance to the Great Hall, the First pushed the door open and stepped aside so that Harry could get a good look.

There was a huge mass of people covering the grounds. They were everywhere! Hogwarts was completely packed with people. More people than at the Quidditch World Cup! Everyone had their attention at the top of a small hill, near the back of the school, and everyone seemed to be waiting.

Harry watched. They stood unmoving, heads bowed respectfully. What could possibly be happening?

There was a soft wound in the distance. It sounded like singing. Or wailing. It was a mournful sound, low and harmonic, and it spread out across the grounds. The sound was somehow familiar, like he knew what it meant, in some déjà vu way. The sound came from out on the dark lake; the shadowy figures of seven women lined up there.

"Banshees?" Harry asked, leaned closer to The First. Something about the old man radiated safety. But not comfort.

"What are they doing here? Why are there so many? Is someone dying?"

"Multiple banshees appear during and after the dead of a great person."

"Who died?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

"DUMBLEDORE!" Harry yelped. Some of the spectators looked his direction, but closed their eyes understandingly, and turned away_. Dumbledore can't die! He's always been here... hasn't he? What could have killed him? _

"Dumbledore?" Harry repeated, softly this time. "How did it happen?" The banshees sung on, softly now. A coffin was being lowered slowly on the hill.

"He asked to be buried on the Hogwarts grounds." The First was watching the burial, too. "Voldemort must be defeated somehow, before this comes to pass. In this time, while you were in a coma, Dumbledore went off to defeat him. He didn't make it. Voldemort used to have a few weak spots. But they're all gone now." He paused. "The coffin is filled with ashes."

"But Voldemort can't defeat Dumbledore! He's... was, the greatest wizard who ever lived!" Harry said desperately. Dumbledore had been his safety line, the one Harry had always counted on if he got in _real_ trouble.

"Was is the key word, Thirteenth."

Harry looked up at the coffin.

"The way things are going in the past, Lily went back to Hogwarts and found you gone, and will soon find you among the dryads. She'll pull her kin together, and rescued James. Voldemort will hunted you down in anger. He'll find your family a couple months later, in Godric's Hollow and kill them. Your life would continue as if we'd never touched it, leading back to here."

"What do I have to do then? To save my parents?"

"Stay with the dryads for now. Don't respond to anyone that comes looking for you. Stay until otherwise removed, and don't seek your way back to Hogwarts."

"I guess I could do that. I have a question, though." Harry bit his lip. "Did I... just turn into a werewolf?"

"Yes."

"So? Why? The dryads told me that I couldn't change because of my- inhuman heritage. Why did I change this night, and not the last? It doesn't make any sense." This better be a clear answer, Harry thought.

"Very Well. From your mother's side of the family, you are completely immune to the affects of lycanthropy. However, your father is human. There are a couple of humans on your mother's side of the family, and not many, and those who were weren't exactly normal either. Now, since you are half human, you are perpetually in a state of flux between human and magical creature. Where you are, what you are thinking of, and the people around you influence what you happen to be for the moment. You may notice some differences in yourself when you are human and inhuman- senses, looks, abilities, and as you have experienced, lycanthropy. You'll probably figure it out as you go along."

"So... if I'm in a human state, then I'll change into a werewolf?"

"Precisely. Last full moon, you were sleeping. Last night, you were in an unknown society, feeling as if you were on the outside looking in, and watching humans. Therefore you shifted over the edge into humanity, and changed as the full moon. If you are human, you can only change at the regular times, the night of the full moon."

"I have another question!" This had been hanging over Harry's head for the last month. "What happened to my father? Is he okay? Please, can you tell me anything?" _Please, please, please!_ He added silently for emphasis.

"He was lured away from your home. He's in Voldemort's headquarters, and they're not planning on killing him." The First watched the banshees, listening to their voices rolling over the landscape.

"Why? Why wouldn't they kill him? If they had him, I mean, why kidnap him if they aren't going to kill him?" Harry was relieved, but more confused than ever.

"It's actually quite an amusing situation. Hopefully it will not cause us any trouble. Voldemort has managed to catch one of the greatest seers of our time. Besides me, of course. He's called the Naga Oracle. Naga are snakes with human heads, an ancient species that almost went extinct several thousand years ago. Voldemort managed to trick Shissskae, the oracle, out of hiding by speaking in parseltongue and convincing The Naga Oracle that he was another rare Naga. Now, The Naga is telling him what is best to do. Voldemort follows his advice. Thus, he never makes his own decisions anymore; he simple follows what he is told. The Deatheater empire is ruled by the advisor behind the throne. The Dark Lord is being led around in the dark by a NAGA, one of the most untrustworthy creatures of all, especially if they are of bad disposition towards the person. Would you willingly help the man who holds you prisoner?" The First smiled for the only time Harry had seen since they met. "He's misleading The Dark Lord. The Naga, however, told Voldemort that you would be his downfall. That's why he's now after you, and your family."

"Thanks a lot." Harry mutter sarcastically. "Isn't that helping Voldemort though? Warning him of his ruin?"

"Not really. I believe he is aware of what we are trying to do, by bringing down Voldemort. We're not aware of his motives yet."

Harry took a step forward, and looked out on to the lake again. A hum caught in his throat, and he couldn't seem able to stop. The banshees kept singing. Harry looked ahead, where the main cluster of people gathered around. He turned his head around. The First shrugged. "We're planning on erasing this anyway."

Harry continued, moving through the crowd. He got to the front of the crowd, still humming softly and ceaselessly to himself. _Dang banshees._

* * *

Hermione's POV

First Harry . . . now Dumbledore . . . she sobbed quietly. Someone (how disrespectful!) grabbed her shoulder and pushed their way through. "Excuse me!" She said to the person. "I don't know who you think you are but on this solemn occaision-"

The person turned around, and she found herself looking into the face of Harry Potter.

"Harry!" she shrieked. "Oh my god!" she jumped at him, and squeezed his midriff tightly. "You came out of your coma!" _He was okay, Harry was fine, now everything could go back to normal... except for Dumbledore_. Hermione burst into tears again. _Dumbledore would never be there again, so watch over the students, and smile kindly..._

Harry hugged her back. He seemed to be humming slightly, in her ear. "Everything is going to be all right, Hermione," he said with a smile. He abruptly let go of her, and she watched numbly as he walked up to the Headmasters coffin, laying one hand on it. He spoke softly, something Hermione couldn't hear. _Farewells most likely. Must have been horrible waking up to find you had been sleeping for months and that Dumbledore had passed on. Poor Harry. _

Harry looked back at her, and smiled. Then he looked behind her at someone. Who's he looking at? Hermione craned her neck. Had he found Ron?

Harry, nodded his head, and slowly slumped down over the coffin, motionless. _What was wrong with him?_

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked, running forward. He was still, and his skin was unnaturally cold. No matter how long she shook his shoulders, he didn't wake up again.

"Harry..." she moaned softly. She could feel people behind her, touching her shoulders comfortingly. Shouts ran out among them, loud and urgent. Hermione jumped to her feet, leaving the body of her catatonic best friend. Deatheaters had appeared beyond the crowd, they were pushing their way through, curses spilling out from between their lips. The banshee song suddenly got louder. _The banshees weren't all there for Dumbledore_, Hermione realized. _They were a singing a warning of mass massacre. Only nobody had understood. Stupid,_ Hermione reprimanded herself. _Banshees only sing when someone is dying or about to die, not after their dead! We all thought they were here for Dumbledore..._

_So they finally found their way onto the school grounds._ The place that was once known as the safest place in the world had finally fallen, right on the funeral of Dumbledore. The whole world was dying. Even the muggles were starting to notice.

Hermione watched them come closer, killing everyone in their way, towards the middle, where she was.

And she discovered she didn't care.

She sat down beside Harry, pulling his head onto her lap, and waited for them.

* * *

Harry's POV

Harry blinked._ The First... __Hermione... _

He was back in the past, inside his werepuppy body. A yip tore out of his throat, and he ran into the woods, howling for all he was worth.

"Ahhhhoooooooooo!"

Harry's call was joined by others, and he ranalong, his feelings churning. _I'm going to make everything better, THIS time around. I'm not going to let Voldemort win. _


	17. The Escape

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: The Escape

* * *

James's POV

James sat against the wall, head tilted back and eyes closed. Nobody had come into the chamber for several days, and they had left him there alone. _They feed me though, that's strange. Why would they try to keep me alive? They probably have plans for me later..._ he shuddered.

James looked out over the room, avoiding the bloodstained floor. The room was wavering, as if from heat waves, everything rippling around. _If this is dying... I hope Lily and Harry are okay... _

A chill ran up his spine, and a tingling sensation filled his head blurring his thoughts. _Where was he again?_ There was a shift in his head, and everything went right again. The room stood still and empty. James shook his head, and looked around.

_If I only could escape... I'm thinner, and ropes are kind of loose..._ he squirmed his way out of them pulling a bit with his teeth. The door was open, and the Deatheaters outside seemed to have grown lax. **_Must think that he's too traumatized to go anywhere_**_. _James's head was suddenly clearer than ever. _If I really could escape, find my family... wait, did I just think of myself as 'he'? _

He snuck to the door, coming up on the right side against the wall, and peeking though. The guards were leaning against the wall. Both had wands out. He slunk back, spying a window. James inched over there, and looked out. A drop down several floors off a castle, and a little ledge...

_Okay. I expect to be seriously pampered when I get home!_ James leaned out, squeezing his way though the bars, to find himself face to face with a rotting corpus on the end of a noose. James turned his face away from the stench and dug his fingernails into the gritty wall, and started along the ledge. A bit farther... okay, now what?

James felt really stupid. _Get all the way out here, and I haven't come up with a plan. **Though I could just jump off, and float down...** where did that thought come from?_ He jumped.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" James shrieked. The wind was rushing by him, and the ground was coming up fast.

Suddenly, a force pulled at James, and he slowed to a stop, landing on his feet. He stood, frozen.

_WHAT THE HELL POSSESSED ME TO JUMP?_ He stared around. _How did I survive? That was almost a forty foot drop! This is becoming strange. _

_Hey, I'm down and I'm outside... _the ground in front of him was clear, and James ran as fast as he could. After a couple second he changed swiftly into a stag, taking huge bounding leaps_. Lily, here I come! _

A couple Deatheaters were heading up the path towards James. He trampled them with his hooves as they stood in surprise, and ran on, reaching the forest. He bounded gracefully between the trees.

_I'm out! I'm out! I'm out of the castle! Now I just have to keep running till I find civilization- _

James stopped, as his thought's took an abrupt turn. _What am I thinking? I can't just run away! They're going to catch me again anyway, so it was kind of futile. They probably killed Lily and little Harry already, and the only reason they were keeping me alive is so they could show me the dead bodies, just like they did to that man, the auror, Micah Johovic. They're dead, I never had the chance to say goodbye, I will never see them again. There is nothing I can do, it's probably better to go back to that godforsaken place, and stay with the rotting corpses, and the blood, and the Deatheaters. There is nothing more to live for, I can stay and mourn in peace... _

A dark cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows in front of him. He radiated cold and hatred, and there was a dark blank space where the face should have been.

_Dementor. _

* * *

Voldemort's POV

"You let him get away?" Voldemort hissed in his coldest, most evil voice. _The incompetent fools!_

"We got him back!" one of them assured him.

"GOT HIM BACK! You let him get away? You were supposed to be on guard! When I say to guard a prisoner, that means NOT TO LET HIM GET AWAY!" He screamed in anger. "Crucio!"

They writhed in agony on the floor, screaming. _Insolent idiots! Can't a Dark Lord get proper help these days? Who fears Deatheaters that can be escaped from! That was the second time someone almost escaped. _

One of the Deatheaters had gotten back up.

"How was he retrieved?" Voldemort demanded

"Azkaban was taken over, Master."

"Excellent." He had sent his most loyal servants for that one_... at least THEY could do the job._

"Potter ran into one of the Dementors coming in with a new supply of muggles."

"The muggles will be mangled and disposed of?"

"At once, Master."

"Bring them in here, I would like to watch." He decided.

The Deatheaters nodded, and scurried out.

Voldemort turned to the Naga at his side.

"So, Shisskae, why do we want Potter again?"

"For his son, for his son, Masssster."

"Yesss, that was it."

* * *

James's POV

James was propped back up in the torture chamber, shacked tightly to the wall. The Deatheaters had beaten him up, kicking viciously at him with their pointed boots. One of them had spit. "That was for Master's displeasure with us." They said, rubbing their arms.

The Dementors were gone, and he could think right again. _Lily and Harry weren't dead, not yet. I had thought there for a minute... _he turned his thoughts away from the images his mind had conjured up... _ Lily's face on Shavonne's body has she was hacked to pieces..._

**_Dammit! We almost made it!_** A voice cursed woefully in his head.

_Right. The voice . . ._ James jerked upright. _Oh, no, I'm hearing voices! _

**_Oh, Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Gallagher Mungo_**.

_Mungo? As in the hospital? What are you doing in my head? _

**_Yes, as in the hospital. I founded it, when I was not much older than you. As for me, I'm a ghost. I died here, you see, killed by another dark wizard, a long time ago. _**

_That makes sense. They would have killed you. _

**_I've been here a very long time. And I'm getting out! No staying in here for the rest of eternity for me. _**

_But I thought ghosts are bound to the place they died? And that still doesn't explain what you're doing in my head! _

**_I've kind of . . . possessed you. _**

_YOU POSSESSED ME?! _

**_Yeah, well, that's kind of what I have to do, to get out of here. You had been alive for so long, I figured you'd be the one to finally escape. I'm the one who almost got that auror out, by the way. If only I can possess someone who gets out of here, I'm not bound to this hellish place anymore. _**

_How could you do that? Get out of my head! _

**_Sorry, can't do that, Bucko. Got to get out of here. Hey, you should be thanking me! If it weren't for yours truly, you would have fallen to your death outside that window, I was the one who floated you down. _**

_You're the one who made me jump in the first place!_

**_Oh yeah. _**

James slumped down again. _Damn._


	18. The Order of the Phoenix

Written before the 5th book came out, obviously. I thought the name was cool and wanted to do something with it. I suggested changing the name of the Order but people said to leave it original.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: The Order of the Phoenix

* * *

Dumbledore's POV

Sirius, Moony, Samantha, Snape, and Dumbledore were all sitting together in the headmaster's office.

"It's been seven months, SEVEN MONTHS, since Harry was last seen." Snape said, standing up and starting to pace.

"I still feel like _someone_ could have done a better job protecting him." Sirius shot, glaring at said professor.

Snape glowered at him. "You haven't exactly found your buddy James, yet, have you?"

Samantha, who had been holding Sirius's hand, reached up and touched his shoulder, trying to calm him down. It worked, temporarily.

"Now is not the time for arguing and laying blame." Dumbledore stated, and the two nodded, shooting each other scathing glances before turning to the headmaster. "Sirius, Samantha, anything new on James?"

"No." Samantha said, laying her head on Sirius's shoulder.

Snape smirked.

"Nothing new on Harry, either." Dumbledore said, looking out the window. "We can only hope that they're both well."

"What about Lily?" Remus asked.

"Haven't seen or heard from her," Dumbledore said and Snape nodded. "I can't get ahold of Camellia, either. I don't know where she is. All of the owls I send come back, as if she just vanished off the face of the earth. She doesn't even read them."

They sat in silence for a minute. "At least," Dumbledore continued. "None of the professors recognized Lily when she came. She looked too much like a banshee for them to try to connect her face with that of a former student. And the students are still petrified."

"Really? The professors don't know she's Lily Potter? I haven't ... talked to any of them." Severus said, looking sheepish.

"That's because you haven't left the dungeons since, Severus." Dumbledore told him, giving him a stern look. "They are, however, stunned about the banshee aspect. Banshees are dark creatures, and nobody wants them around. Rather like werewolves, I'm afraid. Except banshees are a whole different species, and nobody knows where they go, when they aren't wailing."

"I would never let Harry be discriminated against like that." Sirius said fiercely, and then added as an afterthought. "Though most people aren't going to look at him, and immediately scream 'banshee! banshee!' because he doesn't look like one. He's male, for one."

"Sadly, I know how it is all too well." Remus said, eyes sad. "Tonight's the last day of the full moon."

"I made the Wolfsbane potion." Snape said. "Have you taken it before?"

"Deirdre Venenum made some for me. The lady who invented it."

"I've heard of her." Snape said dryly. "She's my cousin."

"Oh."

"I'm going with him." Sirius said, and Samantha smiled. She liked how they always stuck together, the marauders. "Can we go into the Forbidden Forest?"

Dumbledore speculated for a second. "As long as Remus is under control, I don't see why not. There's a werewolf pack that gathers there, maybe you'll meet up with them."

"A werewolf pack? Great!" Remus grinned.

* * *

Remus Lupin's POV

Snape had gone down for the potion, and Sirius and Remus waited in the great hall.

The door opened, and Severus walked in, holding a green bottle. He sneered at Sirius, and twisted the top. There was a fizz of bubbles, and steam erupted from the tip, snaking upward towards the darkening ceiling. The candles around the room lit themselves as the dark crept on. Snape held the bottle far away from himself, and then gave it to Remus.

The liquid was smoking, and as Remus pulled it towards himself... it had the most revolting odor that had ever reached Remus's sensitive werewolf nose. "EW!" he yelled. "That's _disgusting!"_

Sirius took a step back, and glared at Snape. "You did that on purpose!" he accused, his voice nasal, for he was holding his nose.

Snape was standing several yards away. "No doubt," he said with a half smile. "My dear cousin used 'feteo occulto', and other smell covering spells to perfume it for you. I however, don't see the difference."

_Snape, I have a feeling we're going to get you for this... _Remus thought. He pinched his nose closed, fight the urge to hurl, and swallowed in down in one gulp. The benefits, however, far outweighed the revulsion. _Still, it tastes like shit. Not that I've ever tasted shit, of course. _He made a face. "Okay, that was..."

He was interrupted as the sun disappeared, and the moon was the only light in the sky. The moonlight shone down on him, and he could feel himself change. His bones snapped, his skin ripped, white bone showing through. Remus closed his eyes. _I hate that part._

The look on Snape's face had been good though. He had looked horrified, most likely he's never seen a werewolf change before. Sirius had looked sad, but he was obviously amused by the Hogwarts Potions Master... pain took Remus over, and his skin was laid open by a thousand sharp knives.

"Ahhhhhhhhhoooooooooooo!" Somewhere in the middle, his scream changed to a howl.

And then it was over. He opened his eyes, relishing in the power over his lupine body. Usually, something deeper, more primal, took him over, and he would have only few memories, but with the foul potion, he had freedom. This was the first time during this full moon he had taken the Wolvesbane Potion, it usually wasn't available. He yipped to Sirius.

Sirius grinned. That was the signal. He bent over, fur growing on his skin, fingers melting into paws, and snout pushing out of his face, painlessly. Remus felt a surge of jealousy, but he pushed it away. _It wasn't Sirius's fault I was bitten. _

Sirius was done now too, and gave him a canine grin, teeth showing. Moony grinned back. _This was going to be fun..._

They growled at Snape, who looked surprised. He backed off. "You can control yourselves, can't you?" Snape asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

The two four-legged ones laughed, emitting wheezing barks in their throats. Snape glared, and Padfoot ran over to the front door, scratching at it.

"Don't do that!" Snape ordered. "Fine, I'll let you out." He opened the door. 

They ran out into the forest, howling.

Suddenly, the howls were returned, and there were more werewolves ahead, in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.

_Uh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea..._ Moony thought, as they snarled. He lowered his head, and Padfoot did the same. The wolves came forward, and sniffed at them.

There were about twelve of them in all of different genders, sizes, and shades of gray. The largest one was male, and had coarse black, mixed with gray, fur. He seemed to be the alpha male of the pack, and the golden toned female next to him was probably, when they were human, his wife. Werewolves tend to stick together.

Moony soon realized, while they seemed to accept him without question, it was Padfoot they were snarling at. Moony stepped in front of his friend, and yipped, grinning, trying to make them understand that they were friends.

The wolves stared at them for second, eyes wide and incredulous. 'How could a human (as his scent was saying) accept the werewolf?' they seemed to be thinking. Then they shrugged, and grinned back.

Moony and Padfoot followed them into the trees. They started running together.

Padfoot was getting tired; but Moony could feel his supernatural werewolf endurance and speed kicking in. They ran, and they ran, farther and farther into the night...

* * *

Harry's POV

Harry was sitting alone at the top of Lorain's tree, looking up at the same full moon. He had been living with the dryads for the entire time. He walked alone all around their grove, and they accepted him. Lorain seemed to have adopted him. He was growing, and he could now climb any tree faster than he could walk. Harry grinned. _I feel like a little monkey, but hey, it's fun! Besides, what's there to do in a Dryad Grove?_ The dryads were nice, but he had learned much more about trees than he probably wanted to know.

Harry hadn't changed into a werewolf at all for the last several months, probably because he was finally fitting in. The werewolves sometimes stopped by, though. Maybe they remembered him.

Howls echoed through the forest, heading his way. _Here they come!_ He jumped down to the next branch, and slid down the trunk, coming from lying stationary on a large upper branch to standing on the ground within seconds.

Harry looked around the tree, and saw them, sniffing around. He was about to step out, when he froze. Among the gray, there was a flash of black. Padfoot stepped out of the pack, looking around curiously. He looked really tired.

Sirius! Here! What if he sees me? Harry turned around, and started to climb the tree.

There was a tingle inside, like a hunger pang, Harry recognized as his shift to human. _Uh, oh._

He fell, and by the time he had hit the ground, the moonlight had changed him into a werewolf.

His inner puppy took over, and he sauntered out to meet the others.

* * *

Sirius Black's POV

Moony was having the time of his life. He fit right into the pack, but Padfoot couldn't help feeling left out. They were hardly winded, and he could barely walk anymore.

Out from behind a tree in front of him came a little werewolf.

He stared. It was the littlest thing he had ever seen, canine OR lupine. It was miniature, covered with soft looking black fur that merged into pale gray and then pure white around the snout and three of the four feet. The right front paw was as black as the rest of him.

_Oh, they're biting babies, now!_ Padfoot felt angry, and sorry for the little werewolf, who would probably never know what it's like to be accepted. His anger was directed toward the werewolf, the one who had bitten the kid. _Well, then again, maybe they couldn't control it... like Moony when he hasn't had his potion. _

The others had noticed the little werepuppy, and they come forward, greeting him familiarly. Moony saw it then, and a look of sadness crossed his face. Padfoot could practically see him thinking about the same things he had just thought himself.

The little werepuppy howled, and ran off into the forest, the other werewolves at his heels. Padfoot and Moony followed. It was a long game of chase, and Padfoot soon grew tired.

Finally the wolves stopped. There were some strange antics, yipping and running around, and they finally got the gist of it. _It's a game!_ Padfoot realized. _You run, and then the others chase you, and then you hide... it's kind of a strange merge of tag, hide and seek, and tackle football. _

Soon Moony was 'it'. Padfoot chased him down, snatching at his tail. He barked, and Moony dove behind a bush. _What the... why are they all looking at me?_ Suddenly, all of the werewolves howled, and piled onto him.

"Aii!" he yelped. _This is so much fun..._

BOOOOM!

The earth in the clearing exploded upward, showering them with dirt. The werewolves disbanded, running in all directions. They disappeared into the night. Padfoot looked up. There was a huge spotlight on them. It shone into his eyes, and he stood, frozen. There were silhouettes in the middle of the blinding light, and they stepped forwards, revealing themselves to be five wizards in long, dark red robes. One of them raised their wand- "Pereo Maleficus!"

Moony jumped out, pushing his friend out of the way. The spot where he had stood a moment earlier was obliterated.

_What! Why were they cursing us? We could have been killed!_ Moony shoved again at his friend trying to convince him to get moving. Padfoot, however stayed rooted to his spot. He nudged Moony in return, gesturing back toward the strange wizards.

They had found a new target. It was the little werewolf, eyes wide in fear, looking up into the bright lights they were casting. _They were going to kill it! It was obvious, to them, to be sure, that it was a werewolf, meaning that normally it was just a little kid! What were they thinking? A baby! What gave them the right?_

The one raised his wand. "Evil creature! Pereo-"

Moony had tackled the man, fire burning in his eyes, snarling at the others. Padfoot, seeing his opportunity, ran up and grabbed the puppy by the nape of its neck, growling at the humans and returning to the shadows, where he was joined by Moony. They rushed off.

As they left the wizard behind, he heard a voice echo after them. "Damn, we almost had them this time!"

A couple feet further they ran into the alpha male and his mate, who were crouched down, eyes huge. Seeing them, they gave looks of relief. Turning around, the two began to run. Padfoot followed, is mouth full of fur from the little werepuppy, who was whimpering. Moony brought up the back.

They ran, reasons running through Padfoot's head. _What had just happened? That was horrible, they lit onto us as if we were criminals. Who were they?_ The werepup began to kick, squirming in his mouth. It became increasingly hard to hold on to the little guy. Padfoot growled in reprimand, but it didn't listen. He tried to get a better hold, but in a couple seconds the werepuppy had dropped to the ground and disappeared into the brush, wiggling through obstacles so that the larger creatures would never be able to follow.

Padfoot cursed. _Couldn't it see that we were trying to save it?_ Moony ran into him as he slowed, and they got up and sprinted after the hastily departing werewolves.

They ran, and everything was starting to look familiar... they were back in the fairyland Forbidden Forest that they had roamed in their youth. _Oh, don't think that way Sirius,_ Padfoot thought to himself. _You're not that old yet!_

Hogwarts came up in front of them, twilight shining behind it. It loomed above them, huge and distorted looking. Everything looked vaguely like a dream, and Padfoot's heartbeat was thundering in his head. His breath came out in huge gasps. The door to the front hall was slightly open, and they nosed in open, running inside and collapsing on the floor.

The fake ceiling above them brightened, and the sun rose. The three werewolves changed back, growing into people before his eyes. Padfoot sat up, watching, and then became human himself.

The alpha male had become a tall man with black hair, dark gray eyes, and bold features, maybe a little younger than Moony and him, who was currently sitting and catching his breath beside him. His mate was a petite woman, with lots of golden blond hair, and huge, sad, chocolate brown eyes. He was very muscular, and she was overly thin. They were wearing plain brown clothes, very ragged, worse for wear than Moony's own. The girl immediately shyly leaned up against the formerly alpha werewolf male.

Dumbledore, Samantha, and the professors were at the staff table, some sleeping, and some working on grading papers. They were apparently having some kind of staff meeting. At the entrance of the animals, however, every single one of them looked up.

"Remus, Sirius, we've been waiting for you. Who are your friends?" Dumbledore asked, looking over at them. The two looked at him suspiciously. "Hello, I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of this school. You are in Hogwarts. These are my staff and current professors. Oh yes, and that's Samantha Potter."

The man whispered something to the woman, who looked around for about a minute and then nodded.

"I'm Sirius!" Sirius added, grinning cheerfully.

Remus glared at him for a second, the glare plainly saying 'you're not helping...' "I'm Remus Lupin." He said softly.

The man stared at him for a second. "I'm Cade." He announced, clearly trusting only the other werewolf, who seemed to understand.

"Just Cade?" Sirius asked, but the werewolf didn't answer.

"Cade. And this is my girlfriend, Niobe." Niobe was still hiding behind him. "I," he hesitated, before looking right at Remus. "I've been a werewolf for most of my life."

"I was bitten as a small child as well," Remus told him.

"Niobe- Niobe- she was born a werewolf."

"Really?" Remus' eyes widened, in surprise and interest.

"Yes. You wouldn't think, but if both parents are, apparently the child is too." Everyone in the room looked at Niobe, whose head disappeared behind Cade without a sound. "She doesn't talk. She's had a hard life."

"Oh." Remus nodded in the direction of Dumbledore. "Dumbledore's okay. He let me get a full education at his school, when nobody, absolutely nobody, would accept me."

"That's fantastic!" Cade said, now including Dumbledore in his selective tunnel vision.

Sirius decided to burst into the conversation. "Who the HELL were those people?"

"You didn't know?" Cade looked at Sirius finally, and frowned.

"I don't either." Remus added.

"Oh. You're a friend of, er, Remus?" Cade asked.

Remus nodded. "Yes. Him and my three other friends found out about me during school, and they accepted me, even going as far as figuring how to change into animals themselves so they could accompany me."

"That's amazing. I wondered why you found fit to bring an outsider along. My pack, which I established several years ago, usually accepts all werewolves that happen to show up, but no one else." He paused, looking sad. "I've never been accepted into normal human life. Neither had most of the others. You're truly lucky." He then grinned, emotions changing rapidly. "That's why Niobe and I were so glad to find each other." He pulled her to him.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked worriedly.

Remus sucked in a lungful of air, and let it out slowly. "We ran into the Forbidden Forest, and we met up with Cade's werewolf pack. We joined and ran along with them, for a really long time, until I no longer recognized where we were. We came upon a large grove of trees, and a little werepuppy came out to join us." He frowned. "It was the cutest little thing I've ever seen. Little black, gray and white ball of fur. It was slightly appalling though, that a child has to go that all this so young." He looked at Cade. "Do you know anything about him?"

Cade shrugged. "I don't really remember. He runs with us sometimes, he's a cute little fella, isn't he? True, it's sad, though he can't be more than two years old. He got bitten, and there's no turning back after that." He blushed. "I well, I, um. I don't always remember things when I've been a werewolf, but I have a couple snatches of memory. I can't really control myself as a werewolf-" he turned even redder. "Although I'm ashamed to admit it, I think I'm the one who bit him. He was out alone in the woods at night for some reason..." Cade looked thoughtful.

Everyone stared at him.

"So, anyway," Remus cut in, to end the silence that had come over the room. "We were running around in some woods, when we were suddenly attacked by a group of wizards, with some strange spell. They were trying to kill us! They almost got Sirius, they must have thought he was a werewolf too, in the darkness, and we had to rescue the little puppy from them. We ran, following Cade and Niobe, and the little werepuppy left and ran off. We hope he didn't get killed. What in Merlin's name did those wizards think they were doing?!"

"Ministry wizards." Dumbledore declared flatly.

"Ministry wizards? OUR ministry?" Sirius yelped.

Cade nodded in affirmation, and Niobe hid her face in his shoulder, on the verge of tears.

"They've been doing it for years. We would be running along, minding our own business, and they hunt us down and try to kill us. Last year, half my pack was killed." Cade said sadly.

"Why?" Remus asked, shocked.

"They think it's the right thing to do." Dumbledore explained. "Dark creatures, like werewolves, and banshees, vampires, and giants, among others, supposedly work for the Dark Lords. Since Lord Voldemort has risen, the ministry has been out and killing all dark creatures. They saw a group of werewolves, they attacked. This specific branch of the ministry call themselves The Order of the Phoenix. They're partners with the aurors, both trained similarly, and they work together to kill Deatheaters and Dark creatures. They call it justified." The look on Dumbledore's face said clearly that he thought they were doing everything but.

"That's horrible." Remus exclaimed.

"I would have warned you, but I don't allow them to come on the grounds, and I didn't think they would go that far." He looked at Cade. "You are welcome to find sanctuary on my land, with your pack."

Cade looked grateful. "We come here sometimes, but we never thought they the fact that we were never attacked here was more than coincidence. I will tell my people." He shook his head, "At least SOME wizards are reasonable."

"What do you mean?" Snape asked curious, speaking up from the table.

Cade raised his head. "I'm a muggle, and proud of it!"

"YOU are a muggle?" Sirius asked. How is that possible?

"Are you suggesting that only wizards can be bitten? I wish." He shook his head. "I was muggle born and raised. Then I was bitten. My family was horrified, and I left them for fear of attacking one during the full moon. I was apprehended one month, and brought into The Order of the Phoenix to be executed." His face fell.

"Niobe-" he said, continuing his story. "Niobe was born in there. They used her and her siblings for cruel experiments, trying out new ways to execute us. She's alone now on this world, except me. That's why she never talks."

The hall was silent, and the female professors all had tears in their eyes.

"Oh, the poor dear . . ." McGonnagal said, sniffing. Then she got a determined look on her face. "You're welcome here to seek refuge here," she said. "We have an able Potions Master, who would be OVERJPOYED to provide you with Wolfsbane Potion."

"Minerva...!" Snape cried.

"What a wonderful idea," Dumbledore said..

"What's Wolfsbane Potion?" Cade asked.

"Wolfsbane potion is a difficult potion," Dumbledore started to explain.

"That tastes NASTY." Remus added.

"- and it let's you keep complete control of your mind when transformed."

Cade's eyes bugged, and Niobe looked up, the beginnings of a smile on her face. "You can do that?" Niobe nodded vehemently, supporting his question. She whispered something in his ear. "Niobe lived with some of her wizard relatives for a while, and they couldn't help her. She's says that's impossible."

"It used to be." Remus told them. "However, Deirdre Venenum,"

"My cousin," Snape cut in.

"-recently invented it. Snape here makes it for us."

They both grinned, moved to silence by the magnitude of this good news.

"What happened then?" McGonnagal suddenly asked.

"When?" Cade raised his eyebrows, still grinning.

"In the Order of the Phoenix."

"Oh. I managed to escape, and I took her with me. We've been fleeing ever since. That's why she trusts me." Niobe patted his arm.

The females were crying again. "Such a romantic story..."

Niobe smiled, and moved forward, taking a chair and sitting at the head table (across from Samantha, who smiled at her), surprising everybody. The others joined her, Cade taking her right hand side and Remus her left, who was sitting next to Sirius. Food appeared (Cade's eyes bugged), and they dug in.

"So, would you like to live inside the school, or on the grounds?" Dumbledore asked.

"Outside, preferably." Cade was tearing into piece of meat.

"Hagrid will build your something on the edge of the forest, then. Hogwarts is known far and wide as a place for safety. In the past, werewolves would have been out of the question, taking in mind the student's safety. But we keep everyone inside on full moons, and as long as you promise to take the potion every time, it will be alright."

Soon after, they started out, Remus leading the way to Hagrid's hut.

"Do you realize, that we now have a werewolf population on the grounds?" Severus asked.

"So?" Minerva turned to him.

"How much Wolfsbane potion do you expect me to make, woman?"

* * *

a few minutes later...

Niobe and Cade were sitting in Hagrid's hut, watching the huge man curiously as he bustled around.

"I always said, werewolves are jus' like you and me, and normally they'd never harm anyone, but did they listen to me? No, they . . ."


	19. Nymph Council

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Nymph Council

* * *

Harry's POV

The sunlight that filtered through the trees was little, but it was bright, and it pierced Harry's eyelids.

"Rai? What are you doing on the ground?"

Harry's green eyes flipped open. He was sore, and there were a series of stinging scratches on his side. Harry was wearing the plant sewn outfit he had taken to wearing since living with the dryads. Standing up, he brushed all the leaves on himself before looking up into the eyes of his adoptive mother, Lorain.

She touched his head. "You changed again last night, didn't you little one? Poor Rai." She stoked his black hair that for some reason was coming in extremely curly, like his mothers. _Though who knows, maybe I did have curly hair as a small child. Most of the pictures I saw my hair was too short to tell, or my head was covered. And after I went to the Dursleys, they stopped taking pictures. The earliest memories of looking in various reflective surfaces as a young child were of as I was older. Just, er, younger, of course. _

Harry looked up at Lorain. "I heard the wolves, and I had to go." The full memories of last night came to him in full, and he winced. _The terror of the attack . . . Sirius had almost gotten me! Of course, I loved it in the grove, but all of the hiding out here for the last half year would have been in vain; if I still got back on time to be targeted by Voldemort. And then my parents will die. Again. _

"It's good you got back. When you were gone, for a while I thought that you would miss the moving."

Harry blinked. "The moving? I thought you never left your trees? How could we be moving anywhere?"

Lorain laughed. "And we never will. We shall, however, leave it temporarily."

"Okay." Harry said. _The further away, and the longer, the better_. "Where to?"

"It's a surprise!" she grinned, and slung him over her shoulder, starting back up the tree. All around them, other dryads were doing the same, all following Gaea in the front. _Where could we be going?_ Harry wondered. _I can't imagine where dryads would go when not in their grove. They've always been terrified of leaving their tree charges unprotected. _

The group started through the top of the trees, leaving the edge of the grove and starting into the forest. The mottled dressed women and their earthly colors blended into the surroundings, and it was evident that they were effectively camouflaged from any prying eyes from the ground. Harry squirmed out of Lorain's arms, after growing up self dependent, he preferred to walk himself. She smiled at his efforts to climb along side her. He managed.

They climbed all through the morning moving to a steady pace. Gaea knew the way, and she stayed at the lead. Harry peered among them; _these women are a lot stronger than they look_. He swung through the trees, catching up to Gaea.

"Hello there, little one." she said, sparing him a glance.

"Gaea, where are we- Whoa!" he stuttered as he looked up ahead. In front of them was a huge rock wall, stretching far above them, the surface smooth and impenetrable. "What is that?"

She leaned against the wall, palm pressed against the rock face. "This is the entrance." She announced, not to him but to the others who had gathered behind them. Looking down at Harry, Gaea pulled a long strip of cloth out of her pack. Lifted him and wrapped it around herself, tying Harry to her back in a secure baby sling. "We have to climb." She explained, and started up the cliff, digging her fingers into invisible crevices.

They climbed higher and higher, and mist swirled around them obscuring them from the rest of the world. The ground was so far above them . . . Harry squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn't the type to be afraid of heights, but he REALLY couldn't see why they haven't fallen off yet.

"Gaea, of the Hamadryads." Gaea told the wall, and then winked down at Harry in a way that reminded him vaguely of Dumbledore. "We have to say the password. 'Marjolain'!"

CRACK!

Wow! The rock face, it just- split open! Harry watched in amazement as the crack widened. Lifting her skirt, Gaea tucked herself into the crevice and climbed along, the others following her. There was a rumble, and the light behind them disappeared.

Then a large space in front of them opened. Harry stared, mouth open, in amazement.

* * *

Sirius's POV

Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, Cade, and Niobe stood in a large grove of trees, looking around.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Dumbledore asked.

"Positive." Cade answered. Niobe tugged at his arm. "Even Niobe says so, and she's never wrong."

Sirius looked around. "They're right. The little werewolf came out from behind that tree, right there." _Well, they couldn't exactly expect him to be here, would he? He doesn't LIVE here. Still, it was a clue. Somewhere out there, was a lone kid in great danger._ "Do you think the Ministry will find him?"

"Not without the full moon. We can't do anything to save him either; we have to wait another month before he comes out again." Dumbledore rested his hand against a tree trunk.

"I could have sworn last night there was something eerily strange about this place." Remus said, looking around. "But it's gone now."

Cade nodded. "I think I know what you mean. I always saw the kid here, though. He's come prancing out from behind some tree or another." He sniffed. "These trees smell strange."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah." He frowned. "I guess there's nothing we can do. Come on, let's go back."

They joined hands and apparated just outside the grounds of Hogwarts together. Slowly, they wandered up to the grand double door, deep in thought. Cade and Niobe left towards Hagrid's hut, hand in hand.

The Double doors slammed open as they approached the castle, revealing a nervous and pacing Snape. "What took you so long?" he asked, and motioned with his hand. "I think I've found it!"

"Nothing . . . found what?"

Snape grinned manically. "Come!"

There was a swish of black cloaks, and Severus hurried back in, taking long sweeping strides that the others struggled to keep up with. He seemed to be in a hurry.

They followed him down to the dungeons, where he murmured something to a wall, which opened and led into Snape's personal office. He stood behind the table, looked across it at them standing there, and slammed a large, heavy old book on to the table.

BANG!

"This is it!" He announced, flinging it open and flipping through it, wetting his finger every couple of pages to keep the papers straight. Brushing the papers smooth at a page, he flipped it around for them to see. At the top was a large picture of what appeared to be a cloud emitting from a cauldron. The heading announced in bold, swirling lettering, 'Vigilo Praemoneo Protego'.

"What is it?" Sirius asked bluntly, insultingly.

"This," he said slowly and deliberately, as if explaining to a little kid. Then he gave up and went on excitedly. "This is a type of charm, by using a potion and a spell, to watch over someone who needs to be protected, or lost. Spell from elfin origins. We can find Raven with this! We could finally find him!"

Dumbledore took the book, and read over. "This would take a long time, Severus. First, these are pretty rare ingredients and it requires several wizards. The brewing would take a long time, too. Many things could happen before we finish it."

Hope was slowly fading from Remus's eyes. "So we can't use it? What about James?"

"We need something that came in contact with the subject recently." Severus smiled, and held up a fluffy baby blanket in one hand, waving it a bit. "Of course, by the time this is finished, we might have him back already," 'if ever' was implied, but not said. "So we search, but in the mean time we can start with the potion, just in case."

They all looked to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sighed, and then nodded. "You may start to gather the ingredients."

* * *

Harry's POV

The sun shone down into the middle of the mountain, lighting it up like the outside world. There was a whole forest in here! Harry looked around in amazement. There were lush trees and bushes, green grass, little trickling streams, meadows, and even a small lake. In the middle of all this splendor was a large stone hole, with steps leading down into it. It looked vaguely like a roman amphitheater.

"It's beautiful!" Harry exclaimed, looking over Gaea's shoulder from his sling. "Er, where are we?"

Gaea smiled kindly, in her usual way. "This is where the great Council of the Nymphs takes place. It is our private lands, and we meet here for a couple months every couple years. It is our sanctuary, of a sort."

There was a tree that extended to their height, and Gaea took a little leap, landing at the top of it. She speedily began to climb down, the others following. They strolled through the landscape, finally getting to the large amphitheater in the center.

The amphitheater was filled with all manner of nymphs of all ages, running around and chattering.

"NYMPHS OF THE WORLD!" Gaea suddenly bellowed, startling Harry. All attention was drawn to them. Whispers of "Gaea!" swept through the crowd, older nymphs smiling in recognition, and holding up the youngsters, some as young as Harry. "That's Gaea!" they would say. The youngsters would stare in awe and hide shyly behind their mothers.

"Welcome to this years annual meeting of the nymphs." Gaea continued, and the people all milled around, finding seats and sitting rapt to attention. "As we all know, there is turmoil in the world, and to retreat shortly in our sanctuary is a well deserved treat this year. We will discuss what to do about this outside world, and how to best protect our charges, as it our duty. Any questions?" She looked among them.

_There are so many different kinds! _Each type of nymph looked distinctly different, and Harry had never seen any women as beautiful in his life. _Except for my mother, of course._

There was a murmur through the crowd, and it swept up to the middle in a ripple effect where in the meantime Gaea had stepped up onto a stone block. "What is your question?" Gaea asked, and one of the blue naiads stood up.

"Who is the little one on your back? He is not of our kind, and yet you bring him into our safe haven." Harry ducked his head as suddenly all eyes were on him.

"This, my kin, is Rai. We have adopted him in his time of need, and he has spent many months with us. There is nothing to fear from the little one."

Now a white haired nymph stood up. Her hair was fleecy, and fluffed around her head in a cloud .

"Is it HUMAN?!"

Silence filled the stadium, and everybody froze, staring. There was a terrified squeak from one of the unknown dryads . "The destroyers!"

"Partly." Gaea said casually, ignoring the gasps. "But mostly some kind of odd blend. Definitely faerie blood."

The tension vanished at that word. "Oh!" they continued chattering, dismissing Harry from their thoughts, who sighed in relief. Gaea chuckled at this. "The humans have been the Voldemort of the natural world for many years now, little one." she added sadly. "They are a bit naïve and not very intelligent, but when it comes to their element, nymphs are the most passionate creatures in the world." As she spoke, she pulled him out of his sling, setting him down. "What we speak of is of no importance. You may explore, is you wish." The other nymphs, seeing Gaea do this, sent their own children off.

Harry wandered a bit out of the stadium, and walked into a clearing they had passed on the way. Within seconds, giggling hordes of young and beautiful nymphs surrounded him.

"It's a male!" one of them commented to another.

"So?" Harry asked. They looked up at him, and giggled.

"There are no male nymphs." An older one explained.

"Why don't we show him around?" one of them hopped up. The others followed, holding on to each other's shoulders in a long train. They giggled between chants of "Tour! Tour!"

One yanked his arm, and he suddenly ended up in the middle of the train. They hopped around in a silly fashion, and though extremely annoying, Harry found their mirth rather contagious. He was soon laughing, too.

The train meandered up a hill, and into the forest. "All the elder ones do is talk, talk, talk!" one of them complained.

"Not at home they don't. Not mine anyway." Another added, this time behind him.

"Mine neither! That's funny!"

They giggled.

"In conclusion, they only talk a lot when they're here." Harry told them.

"Wow, I didn't think of that . . ."

Harry rolled his eyes.

Near the end of the line, of the little nymphs burst into song, and the others joined in.

Some of them pointed at the mountains rising up behind the hills. "That's where the oreads, the mountain nymphs stay." The one in front of him told her. She had pale blue hair that kept on blowing into his face.

They sauntered through the forest. "Dwelling of the dryads!" continues blue hair. "Or the hamadryads, to be specific. There are the meliads, of the ash tree, the heliads, of the poplar trees, and, um, many more!" she ended evasively, her face wrinkled up in confusion.

"There are the maenads! Though nobody REALLY knows what THEY are . . ."

"Right, the maenads."

_Well, they're are rather scatterbrained, aren't they?_ Harry's first impression of a nymph was Gaea, and she had a deep wisdom that was unsurpassed, except for maybe by the First._ There was also something endearing about them, like you wanted to protect them, but they were still very, very irritating. _

They're singing was gradually becoming more louder, and then even louder. The chain danced farther.

"And between the mountains, there are the napaeas, the valley nymphs, and over there, you see that green splotch?" Blue hair asked, and then went on without waiting for an answer. "Those are the fields, where the limoniads, the meadow nymphs stay. The epimeliads too. Epimeliads are protectors of the sheep."

_Protectors of the sheep? Really. Sheep nymphs! _

The chain continued on, passed the fields, and the meadow, and the sheep. Down to a sandy beach, and the chain immediately disbanded, the nymphs ran all over the place, jumping in the water, and splashing each other, squealing. Blue hair came running back, temporarily remembering him. "The oceanids stay here! They are naiads, water nymphs, also known asd hydriads. The oceanids are of the ocean, the nereids, like me, of the sea!" She danced around and dove head first into the water.

Harry got completely drenched from the splash that came in her wake. He jumped back, and climbed up on the rocks, watching the nymphs run around. they were so happy... Harry wondered where his mother was. _What about my father, is he okay too? He had been kidnapped.. _Harry frowned thinking of them. _Only a couple more months, and they're safe from Godric's Hollow, and I don't have to be the-boy-who-lived. Wait, but If I'm not the boy-who- lived,_ it suddenly dawned on Harry_, who will defeat Voldemort? He won't disappear, and he'll still be as powerful as ever!_ Harry frowned. Maybe _the Naga Oracle, or someone like the First was dealing with that. THEY told ME to hide, not the other way around. And it the First really knows the future, then I guess it'll all be okay._ Harry leaned back into the warm rock, feeling the sun come down on him. It felt so cozy, with the roaring of the waves, and the high tinkling laugh of the girls, he slowly fell asleep...

* * *

The POV of The Naga Oracle

Voldemort had ventured from his throne in frustration, and paced around in circles through his throne room. He had sent all of the Deatheaters out, after receiving some rather... interesting news.

"How could this happen? I mean, how? What am I supposed to do?" He stamped his foot, having a tantrum. Then he realized what he said, and turned to The Oracle.

"Naga!"

"Yes Massster?" Shisskae asked, stressing 'master'. _If you were going to fool a fool, might as well do it right._

"What should I do about- do with my- my- situation?" Shissskae found Voldemort's stuttering quite amusing.

"Explain." Shissskae ordered. _He knew what the problem was of course. _

"I have- I have- I HAVE A SON!"

"A son? Is this a good, or a bad thing, Masster?"

"I don't know! It was so long ago, when I was still susceptible to... distractions."

Shisskae thought it over. _Getting rid of a son would be a good thing, then there would be no successor._ He vaguely remembered telling Voldemort that the child was dangerous and would try to take over. _Last time, Voldemort had killed the boy._ "The child will be a valuable asset to your troops. He may be the deciding factor..." Shissskae trailed off ominously.

Voldemort's eyes widened at the implications_. Stupid fool._ "I'll take him from his mother, and bring him here. He is old enough already, and already has a younger brother, who is Harry Potter's age, I suppose." His face darkened. _The same way it had as he put the killing curse on Harry, when it rebounded on him, tearing him down from his throne. _

_That hasn't happened yet. But it will. _

"Where is the Potter boy?" Voldemort asked, reminded.

Shissskae closed his eyes, seeing a still figure, sleeping in bliss on a warm rock. Walls rose up behind him, encircling him. "Currently out of your reach, Massster."

Voldemort growled, and grabbed his cloak from the back of his chair.

"It is time," he announced, "to pay a visit to a certain Narcissa Malfoy."

_Fool. _

* * *

Harry's POV

There was a nagging voice tugging at him, calling him out form oblivion. He couldn't exactly understand the words. He fell back deep into slee- "Help!"

Harry was suddenly toatally and completely awake. He sat up, and looked around. None of the young nymphs were near him, but the voice had been clear.

"Ahhhh!" Someone shrieked in alarm. He ran up to a white haired nymph, an epimeliad, if he was correct. She looked kind of like a sheep. "Did you hear that?" he grabbed her arm.

"Hear what?" she blinked. Harry was positive he could hear the screams. They were now accompanied by a low and eerie howling sound, which might just have well been the wind. The howls dwindled into growls .The nymphs shrugged, indicating she heard nothing, and yanked her way out of his grip, tumbling onto a sandcastle with many tiers and buttresses.

_I don't just HEAR things. There has to be something going on._ Harry ran over the rocks, following the soft sounds of the voice he had heard. He knew it wasn't in his head. _Someone must be in trouble... but what trouble can you run into in paradise? _

His feet led him into the trees, the forest of green surrounding him. He was getting closer, he could now hear crying.

_Who would be out here?!_ He had to find whoever it was... Harry grew more frantic, pushing his way through the brush. He stumbled through a line of trees. On the other side, the origin of the sound was revealed as a young nymph, curled up against a huge oak tree, shrinking away from a huge ugly creature that had trapped her there.

The creature turned around, growling at him. Harry stepped back in disgust. It was a huge, hippo-sized creature, with a big bear-like bulk, stubby legs, and blunt yellow claws that sunk into the moist ground. It was UGLY. The thing growled again, from a long, sharp slender snout lined with rows of shark-like teeth. It had a coat of coarse, shaggy hair that stuck out in strange directions.

Harry stood, staring. _What was it?_ He felt a pang of fear, and he stepped back. _It looks dangerous._

A sharp scream from the nymphs brought him to his senses. The thing stepped back, standing over the girl. She squatted down, and looked at him. "Help me!" she choked out.

_What could he use as a weapon?_ Harry looked around, spying a huge tree branch. Without thinking, he tugged at it, and swung at the creature. This infuriated it, and it lunged at him, knocking him to he ground.

Harry felt like he had been hit by a truck. The wind was knocked out of him, and the weight smashed him to the ground. He felt some bones crack. The thing leaned back, putting its weight on his legs, and clawed at him.

The dull claws went trough his skin, doing more tearing than slicing. He whimpered and writhed. It didn't really hurt; he could feel his body in shock. The wounds abruptly started burning. The creature growled again.

Instinctively, he brought his hand up, trying to fend off the blows. The log came with it, hitting the thing in the face. It roared, and Harry could see blood pouring from one of his eyes. The half blinded creature flailed around, smacking Harry in the face. The pain was overwhelming. The situation had moved so fast, it didn't seem real.

He took the log in both hands. He yelled something or another, and smacked the thing in the face with all his might.

All at once, it was over, and the creature fell over, unconscious.

The nymph was there, holding his head up, and her face was blurry. He opened his eyes wider.

"Thank you." She said softly. Then she scrunched up her brow. "Who are you?"

"Rai."

"You're bleeding, Rai... she touched his wounds, and he stiffened. He pulled his head onto her lap. "I'm Cinnaedine. I'm a Pegaiai, from Valeska's Swamp."

He nodded, and looked up. She was about his age, and had rich brown hair that curled near the bottom, which was streaked with different shades of blue. Her pale blue eyes looked own at him worried. "I'm going to go get help." She lay him down gently, and ran off.

He waited, staring at the trees for what seemed and eternity. The trees seemed to stretch upward, growing as he watched. Faces swam from the side of his vision, and he was soon surrounded by silent, aghast nymphs.

Gaea, Lorain, and Cinnaedine fell to their knees beside him. Lorain seemed speechless, and she burst into tears. Gaea picked him up and cradled him. "Poor little one." she said heartbrokenly. He laid his head on her shoulder.

Gaea narrowed her eyes speculatively. "Rai, how did you know she was in trouble? I thought you were with the others?"

"I was at the beach." Harry gasped for breath as needles pricked his chest_. Broken ribs, most likely._ "Heard."

"You heard her from the beach?" He nodded. Gaea looked at Cinnaedine. "Good hearing." She murmured. "Extraordinary good hearing."

"What- was?" he was wheezed.

"That?" Cinnaedine looked back.

"That was a Bunyip. A vicious one. Bunyips are large creatures that eat human flesh. They live in marshes, in this case Valeska's Swamp." She frowned. "How on EARTH did it get in here? This is the sanctuary, he shouldn't have gotten in." She stopped, and looked back at the Bunyip. "Bunyips find nymphs to be a rare delicacy."

"What are you going to do with the Bunyip?" Cinnaedine asked.

Gaea glanced in her direction. "Bury it."

"Bury?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yes, little one. It's dead. You bashed its head in."

* * *

Voldemort's POV

Voldemort sat on his throne. The young teen sitting at his feet was, frankly, terrified.

"Never show fear." He barked out. The boy relaxed. _He will learn_, Voldemort decided.

"So your name is Frey."

The boy nodded.

"You will address me as Master." Voldemort instructed.

"Yes, Master."

"Frey. I approve.' He thought for a second. "You however, will be known as Trucido." He added as an afterthought, "Son."

* * *

In Hogwarts

Remus, Dumbledore, Snape and Sirius were clustered around a cauldron in the dungeons, which was filled with various things. Snape reached in and stirred it a bit.

"That's all the ingredients!" Sirius said excitedly. "When can we use it?"

"First we have to wait until it turns purple." Snape told him, reading out of the thick book.

"When will it turn purple?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"The potion will turn purple . . ." Snape started, slamming the book dejectedly down after reading the passage. "Anywhere between six months and well, a year."

"Ah." Dumbledore noted, "You neglected to mention that."


	20. The Place of Truth

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: The Place of Truth

* * *

Lily's POV 

Lily sat comfortably in the middle of Cortez's broad, back, hugging Fury to herself. She couldn't seem to think straight, nor did she have the slightest idea of where she was going.

_My baby. My little boy is gone_. In the back of her head, a little voice kept insisting that everything was okay, he wasn't dead, and she would get him back. _James will be saved, and they would all live together. Harry will go to Hogwarts, become a Gryffindor, like them, and be a Quidditch champion. They will all be proud of him . . ._

She couldn't bring herself to listen to the voice. She tried to reason with it. The chances were slim that both of them would com e back to her, both most likely being with the Dark Lord. _Actually, they should both be dead now. _She sunk deeper in depression.

Although she didn't-couldn't listen to it, the optimistic half of her won in the end. _No matter, if they were dead or not, the slightest chance of them being alive prevails over everything. I have to- just have to- at least try to get them back. They are my everything. When Harry had first been born, and I looked down on his little face, James standing in the background, that's when it had started. I have to get my baby back- even if I die saving his life._

She leaned forward and yanked at a feather. "Cortez?" She sang. "Where are we going?"

'Home!' He whistled, the wind stealing the notes and whipping them back to her ears. 'My home. I believe that maybe my people will be able to help. They have some old wisdom.' By the wistfulness of that last word, it was clear that Cortez wasn't included in this sharing of 'wisdom'

Cautiously Lily scooted over to the edge, looking down. Below, she saw trees, trees, and more- then came a house, and then the ground dissolved into an expanse of muddy mess land. _Valeska's swamp! _She recognized it from before. Lily searched among the trees, but she never caught a glimpse of the banshee camp, their camouflage was too effective. _Even if you know where it is, it was completely invisible._

She flipped over and crawled over to Fury on her knees. The white gryphon looked up, as she approached, and gave her a meaningful look. She seemed to be trying to tell her something. "Cortez? What's with Fury?"

Cortez twisted, craning his neck and eyeing Fury. He forgot to flap, and they plummeted for a second before returning to a smooth glide. Lily sat, knuckles white as she gripped a feather. "How about you pay attention to the flying, why don't you?"

'Good idea.' He flapped, and rose up to their former altitude, Lily's stomach curling in half fear, half déjà vu. _I've always hated thrill rides._

'I believe I understand what Fury is about.'

"Really?"

'Yes. As she has bonded with your son, only he can understand what she says. She wants to communicate, most likely say something about him, but we may never discover what that is.'

"Oh." Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. Lily flopped over and closed her eyes. _Bonded with my son. _She thought glumly. _My son._

They started to descend, and finished with a swooping circle over the rock pile, landing gracefully in the nesting grounds. Normally Lily was in awe at the size of her large friend, but now compared to the others it was obvious how young Cortez really was.

He rattled off in his native language, not the adapted banshee version, to the others and Lily didn't understand a word. They chirped endlessly among themselves, and she tried to follow who was talking.

Finally Cortez gave a sort of bow, with his carry-ons clinging to his back. He gave a hop, and rose back up into the air.

"So?"

'So what?'

"What did they say?"

'Who?'

"Them! Of course them! Stop teasing me, it's not funny."

'Oh, THEM!'

"I've been a bad influence on you. You're starting to pick up my humor. Now, TELL ME ALREADY!"

'They think that they know someone who can help. She is wise, and we are going to her home.'

"That's better. Who?"

"Her name is Gaea, and she's a tree nymph."

* * *

a couple hours later... 

Lily looked around as they lit onto the ground with a thump.

'This is the place.' Cortez stood importantly, ruffling his feathers.

"Hello?" Lily called. They were in a grove of trees, which appeared to be empty. "Is anyone there?"

'This is a dryad grove. Nymphs hide, they usually won't come out. They're afraid of humans.'

"Hello? Gaea? Dryads? Anyone here? My name is Lily, I'm not human, and I'm not going to hut you. Please, I really need your help . . ." Lily trailed off. _I feel silly, talking to an empty forest._ "Cortez, I don't thing anyone is here. It feels . . . empty somehow."

'They have to be here.' Cortez shuffled around in the tight space, sticking his head in some of the trees. 'Banshees split off from the nymphs along time ago. They used to be a form of limniad, nymphs of lakes, swamps, and marshes. They were widely known as the only evil nymphs, they liked to lure travelers into the dangers of the night. But that was long ago, near the beginning of time. They are different now- but still, they are still allied with the rocs, and since they are distant cousins of yours, they should have welcomed us.' He sounded a little worried. 'I think they may have moved.'

"Moved? Dammit! What now? This place is hopeless. Can we find them?"

'No, they didn't move in the sense that you understand it. They simply went to their legendary meeting place. Nobody knows where it is. Apparently the nymphs just start moving and no matter where they are or the direction they go, the happen upon it. It can't even bet SEEN by others. Since no dryad ever leaves their tree; they must have gone there.'

"But if we can't find Gaea, what do we do now?" Lily wrinkled up her forehead. _When you think you have hit rock bottom, it just gets worse._

'I don't know.' Cortez said, and Lily's optimism faded. _Cortez is like my well of wisdom- he's the one who always knows what to do and where to go. The rocs, indeed, have a wisdom that far exceeds my own._

They sat in silence. _There goes our only lead, _Lily realized. _At this rate, I'll never get either James or Harry back- ever._ She sighed loudly and watched Fury, who was sniffing around in the trees. She let out a strange gryphon noise, somewhere between a whuff, and growl and a chirp. She nosed at the ground and motioned with her head. Lily was reminded of her muggle roots and her favorite movie when she had been a little kid, Lassie . . .

"I have an idea!" She exclaimed. Fury ran in a little happy circle. Lily reached down, and pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket. _It was still there! _Turning her back on Fury, she ran up to Cortez. "We can use this! It's supposed to help me, and it did before! I forgot all about it!"

'Oh. Good idea.'

She looked at it. "Let's see, it says . . . K-k-k- I don't think I can pronounce it."

'Show it to me.'

She held it up before him, and he squinted to read the small writing. 'Kletghe. That's pronounced clay-ga-shee. Dark Elfin word. It's a building on what's known simply as the most elusive place on earth. It wasn't made by the elves; they were the ones who discovered it. In their language, Kletghe means 'ice'. Though it is more commonly known as the place of truth. But!' Cortez's eyes widened with emphasis. "It's more protected than Gringotts! We'll never find it.'

"What IS it, exactly?" Lily leaned forward. _It sounds intriguing. The place of truth . . ._

'They say it was built by thirteen all knowing men who came along BEFORE the beginning of time. It holds every single impossible answer- including the meeting place of the nymphs. You can't find it if you're looking for it, unless it lets you in.'

"Camellia wouldn't give me that clue if it didn't help! So, if we go there, it will most likely let us in." Lily'svoice rose an octave. It made sense- but her reasoning still sounded flawed, even to herself. _If Camellia knew all this was going to happen, why didn't she stop it?_

Cortez thought for a second. "Well, the elfin word for it is ice because the only way to get there, it to be frozen alive. The most common way is to go to the South Pole. After you freeze, you either die or become accepted." Cortez asked with hope, "Does the paper say anything else?"

"No. That's all it says." Her shoulders slumped. "Thank you, aunt Camellia. No, no, no- no more specifics needed, thank you very much. Kletghe it is?"

'Fine. Hop on.' Lily climbed back on her large friend. She looked over her shoulder; Fury was sniffing and stomping around the trees. "Are you COMING, Fury?" she asked exasperated.

Fury whimpered and took a step back, jerking with her head.

* * *

Fury's POV 

_He was here! He was here! THIS way, THIS way! Come! _Fury looked back at The Mother. She didn't understand.

_I have his scent and if I follow I can find Harry! I can!_ Fury stood expectantly. There was no answer. _Oh ferments. She can't hear me._

"Come, Fury, we can find Harry!" The Mother was motioning with her hand.

_So can I! _She answered sarcastically.

"We found another lead!" she encouraged more.

_Ferments. I give up_. Fury climbed aboard the roc and they lifted off.

I HATE the cold.

* * *

Lily's POV 

Several hours later, the tundra spread out below them. Lily looked around. "Are we there yet?"

'This is good enough.'

After landing below, they settled down in silence. Fury curled up in a ball and started shivering.

_It's COLD! _Lily hugged herself, trying to keep in the warmth.

_No, that's the point, isn't it? _Lily's teeth chattered in resignation. "If I'm going to do this right-" She slipped off her jacket and tossed it to the side with numb fingers.

A freezing wind started up, howling around them with an intensity of which Lily had never felt before.

_Die, die, die! _She thought to herself. _Oh, wow, this seems really stupid._

She passed out.

Lily was very, very cold. Her eyes were frozen shut, and she slowly reached up and pried them open. She blinked.

There was FROST on her pupils! She blinked furiously.

Lily was in a room; the walls were stone, an unblemished gray. On one of the walls was a black gaping hole she supposed was a door. Everything had a sheet of ice around it, including herself. She had absolutely no body warmth. Lily could feel her pulse. _At least I have circulation! _She thought. _Have I died yet?_

Stiffly, the woman got to her feet, and looked around her. A white lump was by her foot, and she stumbled over hastily. "Fury!"

Lily's curls were chinking, like bells, each hair frozen into place. As she leaned over, one hit the stone floor and shattered into a million pieces. "Fury, wake up!"

One eye opened and looked up at her. "I think- I think we got in! Where's Cortez?" Lily looked around, the room was empty other than them.

She felt a sinking feeling. "If he's not here, then-" She stood, frozen (hehe, pun intended) to her spot in horror. "Then he must be . . ."

Lily trailed off. _Dead._ She couldn't say it. She didn't even want to think about it. All thoughts were pushed away, and she turned back to Fury.

The little white gryphon blended in with her background perfectly, and as she got her mobility back, all you could see was an expanse of white- with a spot moving somewhere in the middle. Fury let out a whimper, and Lily curled her hands around her. "It's okay, we got in and now we need to get out-"

She frowned. "Did Cortez ever say how to get OUT of here? After, you know, the suicide part?"

Fury looked up at her.

Lily slapped her forehead. "Fine. Later. Let's go do this shit."

Fury tried to take a step, and fell on her face. Her legs were completely stiff. Lily grunted and picked her up, walking to the door, er, hole.

In the doorway she stopped, and wondered aloud, "Do we even know what we're LOOKING for?" There was a moment of silence, and Lily through her head back and screamed, an earsplitting banshee scream.

Fury passed out.

Lily looked down. "Oops." She shook Fury's whose head flopped back and forth. "Sorry!" She said apologetically. "Just getting rid of some FRUSTRATION here. This really sucks. I just knocked out my only companionship. And NOW I'm talking to myself."

She moved through the doorway, and her jaw fell open. _It's beautiful!_ Lily thought. _I have never seen anything like this in my entire life!_

She was in a large dome the size of a medieval cathedral. Every single surface was covered with doorways, ladders, shelves, inscriptions, and other things, stretching up to cover the rounded ceiling. All made out of glistening ice.

"Wow!" she wandered in, looking around. Heading toward the nearest ladder, she almost ran into a statue that she was POSITIVE hadn't been there before. "What the hell?" she exclaimed, stepping back wards.

The stone statue was of a teenage girl. She was pretty, elfin, and made out of stone. She moved, taking a step toward Lily.

Who screamed. "Ahhhh!"

"Shhhh!" the girl said, looking around wildly. "I'm just a gargoyle, and I'm not going o hurt you. But you have to be quiet! It'll hear you!"

Lily took a breath, and looked around. Maybe the gargoyle could help her . . . "What'll hear me?" She whispered curiously in return.

"You need to leave! Right away. Go, now!" The girl insisted.

Lily frowned. After all that- she couldn't just leave! "Please! I need to know where the meeting place of the nymphs is! It's really important."

The elfin girl looked at her. "Nymphs? Oh, yes, that. I remember. Near the ceiling, through the door with the river carved on it. Third ladder to the right, But-"

Suddenly Fury was awake, and she twisted in Lily's arms. Squealing and trying to free herself, she gave a kick, and landed beside Lily. "Fury, what's wrong?" I didn't even know she was awake, Lily thought. What's her problem, and why are both the girl and the gryphon looking over my shoulder- ?

Lily spun around, finding herself face to face with a huge pair of yellow eyes. She gasped. It was huge, and the eyes were attached to a long twisting body.

_A basilisk!_ Lily was stunned. _I'm dead!_

She tried to move, to do something, like close her eyes, but she couldn't move. Out of her corner of her eye, she saw her hand, which was now pure, gray stone.

_Not a basilisk, _Lily realized. _A cousin to the basilisk, commonly confused with them. _Living proof, Fury stood as a beautiful carved gargoyle at Lily's side.

"I warned you!" The elfin girl whispered from the wall as the large snake disappeared into the arctic shadows. "Once you become a gargoyle, you stay to guard the truth you came searching for. Forever."

_A cockatrice_, Lily could remember from her Hogwarts days, _a large snake that turned everything it gazed upon to stone . . ._

_Why ME!_


	21. The Boy Who Lived

* * *

Chapter Twenty: The Boy Who Lived

* * *

Harry's POV

In the months that went by, Harry's wounds had healed and his bones were no longer broken. One scar persisted, it was a long, thin line that went down the side of his neck and chest- it had cut the deepest.

Cinnaedine had proved to become a good friend, and time had passed quickly in the meeting place. Harry was no longer sure of the date- _has my birthday passed already? Maybe it has . . ._

He was sitting with Cinnaedine, lounging on his favorite rock at the beach. The nymphlings were in the forest today, it was much quieter on the beach.

"Cinnaedine?"

"Hm?" She lifted her head.

"When do we leave the meeting place?"

"I'm not sure. Might be a while yet. Why?" She asked.

Harry wasn't sure why- he liked it here. It was the peace from Voldemort that he had never had. He was half dreading going back. "No reason."

She smiled. "Let's go eat." Standing up, he grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet. "Tell me more about the humans. I want to hear about Hogwarts again!" Cinnaedine had been fascinated about his life before he traveled through time- he didn't really tell her everything, he just talked about humans in general and the places he's been to.

Harry smiled and Cinnaedine latched onto his arm. "Well, when WE eat, there is a huge hall, with five long tables. Ones for each house, and one for the staff. Candles float in the aisle way, and all the food rises out of the table from the house elves in the kitchens below. And the ceiling is gorgeous." They started into the main camp. Cinnaedine recited the last part with him, she had heard it often enough. "The ceiling reflects the sky outside exactly," (she liked this part, all numphs were claustraphobic in human dwellings) "Down to the cloud patterns, or any other weather." Harry continued. "It can show millions and millions of stars, and you fell like you're looking up at the sk-"

Harry was cut off by a shriek of pure terror. He looked over his shoulder. It was one of the dryads from his grove, a heliad. Everyone turned around to see what was going on.

The heliad was bent over, clutching her side in pain, and her face was white. She let out a screaming weeze, tears dripping from her eyes. The pain renewed itself, and she collapsed. "I- I-" she was breathing hard, trying ot gasp in breath. She had a strange seizure, stiffening out, then convulsed in pain one more time before simply flopping over.

Gaea ran to her side, and lifted her head, touching one had to her forehead. There was a moment of silence, while the wise old dryad peeled the woman's hands off her side. There was nothing there. Gaea looked up at them. "She's dead."

Dead! Harry gasped. He knew her, he used to throw pinecones at her tree, and she wound later drop them on his head with a laugh- Cinnaedine burst into tears, and buried her head in Harry's shoulder. "How?" he asked.

Gaea stood up. "RUN!" she yelled to the others. "Our sister is dead, with her tree. The grove is being attacked!"

Screams echoed through the ampitheater, and panic broke out. Lorain came up behind him, and scooped him up. "Rai! Oh my God, Rai!" she ran towards Gaea. The other dryads were suddenly, there, and they raced into the trees.

Harry looked back and caught one last glimpse of Cinnaedine, sitting where he had left her, next to the dead body.

They ran, and Harry never realized when the end of the meeting place was and where the real forest started.

"We never should have left our trees alone for so long!" Lorain yelled to the others. Harry was being bounced as they leaped over roots and clambered through trees, but Lorain had a good grip. She was stronger than she looked.

"We're all going to die!" another yelled. "Someone is killing our trees!"

"You're not going to die!" Gaea hollered at her. "We're almost there, we're going to be fine!" As she said this, the nymph suddenly stumbled and crashed to the forest floor, crying out in pain.

"RUN!" The rest went on.

The grove came up in front of them, and they came through the trees from the back, peering through the branches.

A human stood, wielding an ax next to a poplar tree and a bunch of logs. Tears were seeping out of Lorain's eyes and landing on his head. "The barbaricism!" she said softly.

The wood cutter went on, moving to the next tree. Harry recognized this one well; it was Gaea's.

With a lurch, Harry fell through the trees, landing at the feet of the human.

The man's eyes widened, and he dropped his axe. He opened his mouth in surprise, and said something in a strange foreign language. Harry looked up, not understanding. The man looked around, trying to see if he was with someone. The dryads slunk back into the trees from his gaze.

"Don't kill them!" Harry said desperately.

The man wrinkled his forehead. After a second, he reached down and picked up his logs. After a moment's thought, he picked up Harry too, starting through the forest chattering in his own language.

Harry struggled. _Hey! Where are you taking me? _He thought. _This guy is carrying me off! _The man ignored him and carried him through the trees coming eventually to a small log house. Harry looked at the wooden logs and shuddered.

The door opened as they approached, and a woman looked out, exclaiming something in surprise as her eyes fell on Harry. She said something to the man, and stepped aside to let them into the house. The woman was short and had thick auburn hair, exactly like that of the three children waiting inside. There was an older boy, a younger boy, and a little girl, who looked surprised, to say the least, that their father was carrying a baby into their house. Looking around, Harry gathered that this was the home of a typical wizarding family.

The man dropped the wood next to a large chimney, and set Harry on the thick rug. He sat up and looked back at them. _Where am I?_ They were discussing him in that strange language again. He had heard it before, but he couldn't place it. How far, exactly, had the wolves brought him? So many questions were conflicting in his brain. _There are so many possibilities- are my parents safe yet? If they aren't how should I stay hidden? If they are, how do I get back to them? Was my father rescued?_

The woman picked him up, cooing. The little girl hopped around and followed her mother proudly as she carried Harry into a large room, and put him down on the bed. They left.

Harry was alone. They were most likely trying to figure out what to do with him- but he couldn't understand it!

Harry laid back, closing his eyes. After a while, he fell asleep, leaving his heavy thoughts behind.

* * *

That night... 

A scream tore through the house, jerking Harry awake. His eyes flew open. _Who's screaming?_ Sitting up, Harry ran over to the door, but was knocked down as the heavy wooden door was thrown open. The family ran in, and slammed the door behind them.

The woman, who reminded Harry a lot of Mrs. Weasley, was sobbing hysterically. She cried into her hands, saying something softly in her language. One word, however was unmistakable. "Voldemort."

Harry stiffened. Voldemort! He let out a squeak, and the woman remembered him swooping him up and crushing him to her chest. As she talked, Harry understood a bit more. "My baby!" She cried. "My little boy."

It was then Harry realized that the younger son was missing. He paled. _Voldemort was killing these nice people- for no reason. That's what he does. Another reason to hate him added to the heap piled sky high. Another death joins the sea of deaths. _Harry was feeling rather poetic tonight, apparently.

A series of crackling and thumping noises bounced through the house, and the family quieted, sinking down to the floor. The father shoved the little girl under the bed.

The voice became clearer. "WHERE IS THE BOY? I KNOW YOU HAVE HIM!"

The family breathed shallowly, hearts beating fast. _It's all my fault,_ Harry realized. _I brought him here. And these people, they protect me as if I were their own! They don't even know me. They could save themselves, by placing me before the Dark Lord and running, then they would live . . . _as if hearing him, the woman hugged him harder to her chest, her oldest child clinging to her arm and her husband standing bravely before them in defiance.

Defiance. That was it. If he could save himself by sacrificing another, would he do it? _No._ Why? Several reasons. Pride. Courage. Kindness. But defiance, also. This man is the scourge of their world. He just killed their son in front of them; they will go to the ends of the earth just to defy him. Just like Harry would. As would all good wizards.

_But still-_ he couldn't let them be killed, just for him! He brought this upon them, they'd had such a peaceful livestyle, alone in the woods. Everything was ruined, and it was all his fault.

Tears poured down his cheeks, mingling with those of the mother, but Harry was unashamed. She looked him in the face, startled. Curling up, she pressed her forehead against his, closing her eyes, praying.

The door splintered, bits of wood flying in all directions. One hit Harry near the eye, piercing the skin, and his right eye turned red with blood.

"So, you thought you could hide from me," Voldemort said slowly.

_This was what Voldemort looked like at the peak of his powers,_ Harry realized. Voldemort wasn't by all means strong looking- he was as tall and as thin as ever. He already looked like a snake. He had that same skeletal look about him, and the red eyes burned fiercely. There was something about the way he stood, and the way he would look at you. It was terrifying. It was pain and cruelty, pure and simple. The worst thing about him was the odor. It was a foul stench that reached them across the room; the stench of decay. The stench of something that lived in the darkness and that only came out to kill . . . a true dark creature.

The man stepped braely in front of his family, saying something. The woman quieted and listened.

Slowly, a grin spread across Voledmort's face. "Petrificus totalus!" he shot out, before anyone could go for their wands. "Anybody tries anything, and he dies." He said simply.

The woman and her eldest son stood stock still, looking at him. They were frozen with fear. The man on the floor lay, eyes flickering around frantically but unable to help them.

Harry looked around._ There has to be some way to save them . . . what can I do?_

Before he had thought of a plan, Voldemort came up with something. He pointed his wand at the son. "Aqua praefoco." He pronounced clearly, almost lazily.

The boy stiffened, and Harry was abruptly dropped to the floor as the woman clung to her son, shaking him. He was alive, but he wasn't breathing, As they watched, he choked, his air supply cut off, and slowly turned blue, and then a disturbing shade of purple. He slumped over, and a fountain of water spurted from his lips. He fell to the floor.

His mother was in shock. She stood next to him, staring doen, not fully comprehending what was going on. _Her family was DYING._ Harry became desperate. He grabbed the nearest thing, and threw it at Voldemort's head. Which was a dropped wand, most like from the father. Harry regretted that throw- he might have been able to cast some- any- kind of spell. The wand didn't react as it hit Voldemort, but it jabbed him painfully in the eye.

"Arrrgh!" The Dark Lord cried out, stumbling. His eyes lit with rage, turning to Harry. they narrowed to thin, glaring slits. Waving his wand in the genral direction of the mother sitting over her child. "Igneus excorio." he said. The woman sat looking at them uncomprehendingly. Without warning, she let out a bloodcurding scream, and flung herself backwards, arching her back. At fist it looked like nothing was happening. Then her skin started to turn red, and blister, like a sunburn. It bubbled, and then peeled off in thick layers, leaving unprotected, bleeding flesh behind. Harry watched, horrifed. The woman stopped screaming. She looked down at her hands, watching them practically melt. All at once, she burst into flame. The flaming torch jumped to her feet, and ran. A couple seconds later, there was nothing but a pile of ash on the other side of the room. Even the clothes were burned away, leaving nothing but a simple heart locket.

There was a strangled noise from the man, and Voldmort jerked around, having forgotten about him. The former husband's body was slowly rejecting the petrificus spell, and he was starting to to twitch. He was shaking, and tears were leaking down his cheeks.

In that moment, Harry lunged for the fallen wand, where it had landed near Voldemort's foot after hitting his face. _If only I can get it . . . _his fingers closed, clutching the thin stick of wood. He brought it up, as fast as he could. "Expel-ooph-"

A boot smacked into his ribs. There was a crack, and breathing became difficult. Harry flew across the room, smashing the back of his head on the back wall. His vision blurred, Harry lay still, trying to focus around him. One thing was clear; Voldemort had the other wand clenched firmly in his hand. Harry tried to sit up, but his bruised baby muscles protested, and he fell back like a limp rag. Blinking furiously, he watched to see what the Dark Lord would do next.

Voldemort scanned the room, past the ash pile, the water logged teenage boy, and even past Harry. His eyes landed on the slowly reviving father. He lifted his wand, and the man shrunk back. Voldemot lifted his wand, and, in a very bored voice, gave a viscious jab in his direction. "Dementus."

There was a whoosh of cold air. The man jerked, and his eyes opened wide and panicked as his mouth was forced open. Someing mostly tranculent, like Harry's invisibility cloak before he put on it, was trying to escape out of his mouth. It was a cross between a liquid and a gas; it had a misty quality, and a glassy surface. Rainbow colors flew in all directions, rippling on the silvery water.

The blob extracted itself from his mouth, hovering above the body as a big quivering sphere. Like water, rippling spread, and the slight glow left dark spots all around the room. It hung there, and then suddenly, with a zippy sloshy sound, whipped across the room and disappeared into Voldemort's wand in a pouring waterfall. The color faded, and was gone.

There was a thump, and Harry looked back at the man. He was spread eagled on the floor, eyes glazed over, and limbs akimbo. 'Dementus' echoes through Harry's mind. _That was a soul_, he realized. _That's what happens to a man when a Dementor sucks out his soul. And Voldemort took it._ The man was gone.

Harry gaze flickered back to Voldemort. The presence of the dead bodies in his peripheral vision weighed heavily on his heart. Voldemort was standing in the middle of the room, rubbing his wand appreciatively. He didn't cast a second glance on his victims; his eyes were on Harry. He spoke; in a low treacherous voice, swaying slightly not from drunkenness but with sheer hate. "I thought that Shisskae was fooling me. You, a little-little- INFANT- " He wasn't speaking to Harry, because he obviously wasn't expecting an answer. He was announcing his victory; relishing the moment.

"Might just be able to hinder me. I guess I was wrong. You do, show some potential. I don't know who you are, or why you seem to be seem to be a threat. But no matter what, you will nor would ever be able to beat me. And now," he continued. "You die."

Harry took a deep breath, wiping the blood out of his eyes. "Fuck you."

Voldemort coughed. His eyes shot open, leaving their cool, icy demeanor behind. "What?"

Harry got to his feet, walking forward. he stood a couple yards away from Voldemort, in a proud stance, chin lifted high in the air. "I said, FUCK YOU."

"What the-" Voldemort didn't finished, startled by the sudden speaking prowess and maturity of his 'opponent'. "What kind of kid are you?" By looks alone, Harry was only one year old; a baby. But his control and knowledge of spells. "How-" he suddenly reaized. "you almost put a spell on me earlier! No child of your age- your powers shouldn't even have started developing by FIVE years of age!"

Harry knew he had an upper hand. "No matter what." he said. "You will never be able to beat me."

Voldemort lifted his wand. "Why you little-" Then he uttered the two, utterly powerful words. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The force of it knocked Harry back on his behind. The seconds that followed moved very slowly. The green pin point ray of light moved across the room an inch at a time. Harry could feel several things; the wind blowing his hair back, Voldemort's foul stench, the shaggy carpet intertwined between his clenched fingers, his own harsh breathing, His ribs felt bruised, and the splinter lodged under his eye stung terribly. There was a pang of fear in his chest. The green light looked ominous. It seemed to curve and aim for him- it probably was. It heading straight for his chest. Harry resisted the urge to close his eyes and watched it advance on him. The worst was when it got to him. It hung suspended in the air, an barely off the skin on his chest. And he just looked down at it. It was inevitable. Each breath brought his chest closer, and far away. It felt unreal, his heat was pounding in his ears.

Then it struck. The silence of the room was shattered as there was a huge explosion. Things flew in all directions, the bed was nearly upended. The green light rippled out over everything of his body like a rock striking water. It billowed around him like a mushroom cloud. It curled around sunk in. The pain tore at his insides, at his mind. Like the impervious curse, he could feel it trying to take him over, and he fought it. The ripple effect hit his scar, until now an invisible spell-marker, and Harry felt like he had been hit by a thousand volts of electricity. The skin on his forehead ripped from the pressure, and magic leaked out. The pain and light condensed at the spot it had hit him, and flew in a reverse whirling ball, hitting Voldemort's smug face.

In less than a second, Voldemort was simply pulverized. In fact, it happened so fast, the dust that was left over hung in his silhouette before blowing away. Harry almost throught the didn't see it, but it wasn't his imagination. A black shadow rose, and spiraled up and away like a balloon, disappearing through the crack of the wooden ceiling.

The room was silent. Harry couldn't think, he felt as if the gears of his mind were simply stuck. He sat and looked across the now empty room. Empty, except for the dead bodies. He didn't know how long he sat, but he simply didn't move.

Until, some time later, the door creaked open.

* * *

Harmony's POV

Harmony was sad.

Quietly, she entered the house. So much death had happened here, and recently. There was a boy, a boy who would have become something special if he had lived. A boy who would have changed things. It was him, and the others, that she sang for.

It was her own personal mourning melody. She crooned it softly as she walked through the empty rooms. _So much emptiness._

Finally, she came upon the door she was looking for. She had sung outside for hours, and now she had come to pay her respects.

The banshee opened the door, the hinges creaking. The room was filled with several deaths, at least four. One lingered somewhere else in the house, souls crying pitifully. Banshees could always hear the souls. The voices never really went away, they haunted you even after they were gone. No human could understand that.

The boy lay next to a lavish double bed. His parent's room, most likely. His face was serene, and tinged with blue. Harmony kneeled down, taking his hands and folding them over his chest. "Rest in peace." She murmured, kissing his forehead.

Something stirred to her right, ad she looked up. It was a baby! Sitting on the floor, it started at her dumbstruck. "Oh, you poor thing." she stepped over, and picked him up. He couldn't have been more than a year and a half, but his eyes spoke of many things. A gash zigzagged down his forehead vertically, coming to a stop right between his eyes. His face was covered with blood, and she wiped it off gently with her dress. He looked at her. "Everything is going to be all right," she assured in a calming voice, and he closed his eyes, head drooping against her chest. "Sleeeeeeeep . . ."

There was another small cut under his eye, and Harmony stiffened her resolution. No matter what it was, she was taking it home to have some healer look at it. She had a weak spot for babies, especially since her daughter Melody had been born.

"Let's go home." She whispered to him, leaving the room.

As she closed the closed the door, she felt another presence nearby, but she left it in peace.

* * *

Dumbledore's POV

Dumbledore took long hasty strides as he approached the scene.

The place was buzzing with Ministry workers, swarming all around like a beehive. Reporters were already gathering by the front door, waiting around for some tidbit of juicy information. Dumbledore sighed. _No matter what the time, or the circumstances, while other sane witches and wizards were in hiding, the reporters still came._

Recognized a young man, assistant head of the History of Extremely Lethal Lawbreaking office.

"Frank!" He didn't hear. "Rounthwaite!"

The young blond man turned around. "Headmaster Dumbledore!" exclaimed with relief- and a little apprehension, Albus realized.

"What happened here? I was called."

Rounthwaite gulped. "The Ministry received signs of potentially fatal magic around these parts several hours ago, and we came to check it out. It's a really bad sight in there. Family slaughtered. We-" He let out a long breath. "There are some really crazy stories. We have a witness."

Dumbledore was surprised. "Voldemort did it himself?"

Rounthwaite winced, then nodded. "According to the witness, yes."

Now Albus was intrigued. _The Dark Lord never left witnesses. Never. I know Tom well enough for that._

"Bring me."

The young man nodded, and walked through the crowd. He led Albus up to a young girl, swathed in blankets. Her tear stained face was bent over a mug of hot chocolate, and she had a simple heart-shaped gold locket in her hand.

She looked up into Dumbledore's face, seeking comfort. "This was my mothers." she said. Albus sat down and pulled her into a hug. From this position, he was the only one that heard, "It's all that's left of her."

"The witness's father shoved her under the bed as He-who-must-not-be-named came." Rounthwaite supplied.

"What's your name?" He asked her.

"Amanda Lisle."

"Tell me what happened." Dumbledore pulled her onto his lap, and she snuggled into her blankets.

Amanda took a deep breath."It started when Father went to get wood, and came back with a baby boy. He didn't speak, but when we asked him his name, he said it was Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter?" Albus interrupted, astonished. _What the hell. Where has he been all this time . . . ?_

Amanda nodded. _Severus is going to be interested in this_, he thought.

Amanda went on through her version of events. Nobody interrupted, the whole crowd quieted to listen to her little piping voice. She went on for a while, and finished her story with the pulverization of Voldemort.

The crowd was dead silent, incredulous. A little boy- had defeated the Dark Lord. "Where is he now?" Albus asked, curious as to why Harry wasn't with them. _Is he okay?_

"Then a lady came." Amanda announced. "And took him away."

They stared. "Just like that, she took him away." Rounthwaite stated.

"Did she have bright green eyes and curling red hair?" Dumbledore asked. _Had Lily gotten her baby back?_

"No."

Despair filled Albus. _Things stilll weren't resolved. Where WAS everybody? Harry, Lily, James . . ._

Out of the still crowd, a young woman ran forward with a notepad and click pen. "Harry Potter," She yelled passionately, and disappeared into the night.

"THE BOY WHO LIVED!"


	22. Wanted

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: Wanted

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry ran through the rows of banshee mud houses, dodging other people and humming over the particularly wet spots he recognized. The ground was full with mud pits that sucked you down. Levitating was one of the first things he had learned here.

Harry reached the end of the camp. He continued. Something moved ahead of him in the shadow of a tree, and he ducked, sploshing quietly into the mud until everything but his eyes and nose were uncovered. He watched as Melody, Harmony's daughter, snuck out, not having noticed him. She looked around, careful eyes skimming over the murky surface. Harry ducked. "I saw you!" she called, and Harry leapt out, like a muddy swamp monster, splashing all over her. Swiftly, he ducked down, grabbing a satisfying handful of rotted plant residue and dousing her with it.

Harry laughed, satisfied. _This is so much fun!_ It was an ongoing game through the swamp- nobody ever won, and nobody ever stopped. "Got you!" He cried, and hummed up into the air.

"Harry!" She shrieked, grinning. "You just messed with the master! You are going down!." _Oops,_ Harry thought. Melody, though normally shy, was really famous for her revenges . . . within a couple of seconds, he had grabbed a nearby tree branch, and swung up. "Hey, get your-" He scampered up the truck, sliding a bit, and then tucked himself into a bunch of leaves. _Bet she can't get me here!_

Melody narrowed her eyes dangerously. She started to hum up toward him. But she wasn't strong enough to go all the way up the tree, and she plummeted, causing a huge splash. She disappeared. Half a minute later, the calm water exploded, and Melody crawled out, shaking her head like wet dog and wiping her eyes. "Mud pit!" she announced. Melody looked up, searching but not recognizing which branch he had disappeared on. "Hide all you want, I'll find you later!" she promised, and hummed off with dignity.

Harry chuckled. _I'm in the perfect position to ambush!_ He settled down to wait.

Harry hadn't thought about Halloween. He knew that the scar on his head, from the elfin protection charm had become visible since then. One thing was for certain- his parents weren't dead. He had saved them, his mission accomplished. He sighed. Then how come he felt so guilty? He was responsible for the deaths of the people who had taken him in- he had practically sacrificed them for his parents. He had come back with Harmony. He hadn't talked to her or any of the others yet, he just said he was part banshee and he was known as Harry. They hadn't really asked- he had noticed the whispers going around the camp. Everybody knew about Harmony finding him. Harry leaned back into the branches behind him, mentally changing the subject. Melody and Dome were his best friends here so far, but he hung with all the others, too . . .

Voices cut through the light fog that always hovered above the ground in Valeska Swamp. Harry scratched his leg while moving forward onto the balls of his feet. He held his breath as he waited for his victims to emerge below him-

Harry frowned. He didn't' recognize the voices- they were male. Most of the banshees were women, and the others didn't leave the camp often. _Then who was it? _Harry leapt off the branch, landing next to the mud pit.

"What was that?"

"What?"

"I heard a sound, over there someplace."

"Over here?"

Their silhouette shone black in the mist before three men strode out it front of him, a soft glow lighting the clearing.

* * *

Raymond Stinchfield's POV 

Raymond lifted his wand, holding it in front of him. _God, this Ministry of Magic gig isn't turning out as glamorous as I thought it would be_. Fog, mud up to his knees, bone chilling cold- but the case was worthy. _All people and dark creatures helping He-who-must-not-be-named had to be brought in. Dangerous creatures were exterminated, and the Deatheaters got the kiss, or life sentences in Azkaban. Harsh times, but if you were on the wrong side of the war, you would get what's coming to you._ And Raymond would be a part of it.

They moved in the direction that Walter had pointed in. Slowly, an image formed in the gray- not white, but (how disgusting) dark gray- fog. There was a sturdy but ragged looking tree behind a mud-covered toddler.

"It's just a little boy! What's he doing out here?" Walter asked, walking forward. The kid looked up, eyes wide and surprised.

_Geeze. A kid. In the middle of a swamp where banshees have been sighted._ Raymond tried to put on a kind face. He hadn't done that in work for a long time. "Hey, there. What's your name?"

They kid blinked, and hesitated. "Er, uh, Raven." He said. _Black hair, hmm. Makes sense._

"Where are you're parents? What are you doing here?" Walter asked, edging toward the kid.

Moody narrowed his eyes. "Yea, din'ja know this is auror confiscated land?"

"Moody." Walter said, irritated. "He's to young to know what that means." Walter's family were breeders- he already had five kids waiting for him at home, and another on the way. He tended to get-sensitive- when it came to really little kids. Raymond rolled his eyes. "Okay, Raven, come here, we'll help you find your parents." The kid back up against the tree. He seemed a bit frightened. _I wonder how he got all the way out here?_ Raymond wondered to himself. Finally he stepped forward, and swooped the kid up into his arms. Raven just looked surprised, and was staring over his shoulder. _What was he-?_

"What the hell?" Moody suddenly asked. Ray whipped his head around to see what was going on. The clearing was filled with little kids. "Damn!" he said, and then checked his language. Each little kid was covered with mud, and wearing scraggly clothes. "Where'd they all come from?" he asked Walter, who shrugged, eyes wide.

A little girl stepped forward. "Put him down." She commanded. Raymond blinked. "Where are you're parents?" Walter asked her. She just shook her head. "Put him DOWN!" her brow wrinkled up in anger. "Leave."

Raymond was now thoroughly confused, and Moody was getting mad. "Look, little girl, you can't order us around. Now either your parents show up for you, or you'll all be in the Ministry to be put in foster homes by tomorrow!"

"Leave. You humans aren't wanted here." She continued stubbornly. Raymond did a double take. "Humans?' he repeated, voice rising an octave.

The girl gave a half smile. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Her mouth opened wide, and she issued the loudest shriek he had ever heard. It cut into his ears, and he could feel his eardrums pounding. His temples throbbed painfully. The other kids joined in with her, and then Raven did too, howling right into his ear. _Banshee children! They were banshees! Dark creatures!_ He dropped the one he was holding, and reached for his wand. The shrieking increased, and he dropped to his knees, hand pressed over his ears._ Dammit! BANSHEES!_

The noise ceased. Suddenly, the banshees disappeared, simply flying away into the darkness. Raymond tentatively took his hands off of his ears, and looked back at Walter and Moody. They looked more than slightly shell- shocked.

"Banshees. Every single one of them." Walter stated incredulously.

"Those things BREED?" Moody's face darkened with hidden purpose.

Walter suddenly pointed at Ray's feet, where something was emerging from the mud. Raymond leapt back. It was the first one, Raven. _It's attacking us! _Walter gave it a viscious kick to the ribs, cussing at it. Raven's eyes locked on Walter, and they all froze. What was going on? There was something strange about Raven; he appeared to be changing.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooo!" Raven howled, tilting his head back at the full moon. "Werewolf!" Moody warned. He was right- the sun had just gone down, and the full moon was the only light in the sky.

As they were looking at the moon, the werewolf jumped. It hit Walter, knocking him into the mud. Moody jerked out his wand, and sent a variety of curses at the little furry back. This just made him more infuriated, and he tore at Walter with his teeth. Blood pooled around him.

The werewolf stepped back, before taking a huge flying leap over Walter. On the other side, Raven stopped, a dumbstruck look in his vulpine eyes. His back arched, and after several stunned seconds, there was a toddler standing there. Raymond's eyes almost popped out of his head. The boy turned and ran off into the forest.

"Help!" Walter suddenly screamed. Raymond blinked, and turned his attention to his friend. What he saw knocked him completely out of his stupor- Walter was thrashing and flailing, he appeared to in the process of being sucked down into the mud. "Help!"

_The swamp was eating him! The banshees probably had total control over it- which explained all the warnings in the old books, not to go looking for banshees._ Ray took a step in his direction, and the ground sucked in his foot. _Damn!_ He fought against it, but it was slowly sucking him in. Someone grabbed him from behind- it was Moody. Moody hooked his arms around him, and yanked. Finally, the swamp gave up they tumbled back free.

Walter let out one last agonized gurgle before the mud shlooped closed over his head. They stood in stunned silence, before breaking into a run. The sooner they escaped from this hellish place, the better.

* * *

Harry's POV 

The morning was very, very cold. Harry stretched, dried mud cracking off his arms. His bare, human toes slid over the swamp water. There was a bad taste in his mouth, and his eyes felt gritty. He blinked them open to Ilaria, standing above him. He had fallen asleep next to the fire with the others.

She addressed the banshees as a whole. "It is to all appearances that he humans have left for good. We kept watch all through the night. Harry's assumptions were correct."

Harry thought back to last night; he still didn't exactly understand what had happened. He knew he was changing phases often, but twice in one night? He had changed so fast; he had transformed into a werewolf- and then back again, within minutes. And since he hadn't transformed last month, he had only become human again recently! That was alot.

He looked around the camp. They were still set up for intruder alert- dark woven covers masked the doorways and the clearing was devoid of all possessions. He had come back, saying only that one had fallen into a mud pit, and unable to save him, the others had fled. He hadn't volunteered any more information.

Practically everyone had woken up by now, except for the few lazy exceptions and the ones who had been on guard duty. Random breakfasts started and eventually food was pressed into his hands. They sat around the fire, stirring the embers to life and adding more fuel. The fire was magical- neither it nor the smoke could be seen from everywhere put the clearing.

Unsticking himself further, Harry hummed up into the air, looking for Melody. Idly he wondered if she was still out for revenge-

With a splatter he fell back to the ground, landing flat on his back. What the- he hadn't stopped humming! Now his hair was dirty, too. Eventually he would have to go down to the river and get thoroughly clean. Not today, though.

Everyone was looking at him. Harry startled, blinked. "What?" he asked, but they just stared.

Harmony just came up beside him. She chuckled, and the rest joined her. She touched his should. "You just gave your first premonition, Harry."

"Huh?" Harry asked. What was she talking about? "What do you mean?"

She nodded, and sat down beside him. "Classical signs. You don't remember- quite common. Harry, you just announced the death of a man. You said he would die in the woods."

"WHAT!" heads snapped in his direction, but then turned away again after a moment. _Premonition- hadn't my mother done that? And she couldn't remember either. . ._

Harmony, seeing his doubt, nodded. "You definitely did. We all heard you." She thought for a moment, and then smiled. "Let's see- close your eyes." He looked at her skeptically. "Just trust me."

He did, and closed his eyes. As black covered his vision, the sensation of spinning, of not having any connection to the floor took over. He couldn't seem to think. Harmony's voice penetrated through the fog in his mind. "Keep your eyes closed." The sensation increased. At first he thought it was the usual light behind his eyelids, but soon glowing dots filled his vision. One floated in front of his bordered in red. It hovered enticingly, and started to float slowly away. Harmony's voice distracted him again. "Tell me what you see."

Harry nodded slightly. It was weird, but it felt good, too. Like getting a breath of fresh air. "There are little lights everywhere. There's one right in front of me. I think it's going to float away." A hand slipped into his. "Follow it." She ordered.

He moved forward, and involuntarily opened his eyes.

He was flying, like humming, but instead of the wind carried him, he was the wind. It flowed through him like a sieve pushing him along. He looked to his left- Harmony was there wispy and transparent, still holding on to his hand. Something passed by. It was Melody. She looked right at them, and frowned. "That's not fair." she complained. "I've never had a premonition."

They left her behind, and the red light floated in front of him. He followed it, flowing higher. He glowed green again, the medallion Camellia gave to him fell out of the front of his shirt, and hung down like a green lantern, lighting the way with it's inner blaze. White shone all around him as they passed at lightning speed.

A pale hand came forward; Harmony pointed. "That's a spirit." She explained softly, and her words were almost carried away. "That one is in danger." She pointed to the red one. It flickered slightly as they watched, and the closer they came to it, the faster it sped away from them.

Harry's feet hit the ground hard. A cloud of dust billowed up- they were no longer in the swamp. Tall trees surrounded them, and green branches almost clouded out the sunlight. In contrast, the air here was still and humid, and sounds echoed through. He glanced at Harmony, reality hitting him. They had just- flown here! "How did that happen?" he asked.

Harmony sighed. "It's a perk of being plagued by dead people all the time. Even though the belief by others that banshees are part spirit isn't correct, there are small truths to it. That was the realm of the dead; we just passed through it in our spirit form. Banshees are the only ones who can do that." She looked around, stepping and peering through the trees. "We should be at the death scene. Just remember, warn, don't interfere."

Harry blinked, surprised. "Why?"

"Why we can't interfere?" she asked, looking back at him as she started walking. "It's our curse. Plagued constantly by knowledge and visions and death, and no matter how hard we try, we can't change them."

Harry took a deep breath, and followed. There was nothing anywhere around, finally Harmony turned to him. "So, where do we go?"

"Huh?" he looked around. "I don't know, I don't see anything."

Harmony put her hands on her hips. "You're the one who brought us here."

Harry looked back at her, face blank.

She sighed exasperated. "The death should pull at you, try to see if you can feel it."

"Oh." Harry said, feeling stupid, "How was I supposed to know?" He stood still for a moment- she was right, something was drawing him back in the direction they had come. "This way." He led her. The farther he walked, the stronger the pull. He broke into a run, sprinting towards the source.

"Harry! Hold up!" He left her behind.

A strange music filled the air, and it grew louder.

Harry burst into a clearing, skidding to a stop. His eyes bugged, and he came to hid sense for a moment. The clearing was FILLED with little dancing people. faeries. They wound around him. One zipped back his ear, and a slow chanting started, merging with the beat of the music. It was soft, but enthusiastic, "wish, wish, Wish, WISH, WISH!"

He spun, hearing a sound behind him. A body fell, for what seemed like forever, and in his peripheral vision the red color faded. The body hit the floor, and Harry looked down at it. It was a man, early twenties probably. His face was ashen. His body started to cave in on itself, and when Harry reached out to touch it, it burst into dust and blew away with the wind.

Harry tried to catch his breath. _Wish faeries-_ he remembered hearing about them sometime. _It could have been Defense Against the Dark Arts, not Care of Magical Creatures, because they were supposed to be dangerous. Whatever the man had wished for, it had killed him._

_Another death._ Sadness struck in Harry's chest. The music, pushed, temporarily, out of his mind, came back in a rush. It was beautiful, and melodious. The faeries were leaving in a cloud of flurrying wings, and he followed them, stretching his new, raven black wings extending from his back, the move caught up with him, and he bounded on leaves way longer then him before taking flight in the air.

* * *

Snape's POV 

Severus stood over his potion. New pages had been appearing in his ancient book, instructions popping up so fast he could barely keep up with them. They magically wrote themselves on the page, the potion growing more and more complex as the pages grew into the book.

The door slammed open; it was Professor McGonnagal. "Five new werewolves showed up just now! Do you think you can finish some new Wolfsbane potion before tonight?" he looked at her, torn between yielding to her impeding wrath or simply locking himself in to work in peace as the werewolves roamed free- no, he could do that, they would kill without the Wolfsbane. He nodded tiredly, and the door swung shut after Minerva. Gently, he shut the book, placing a marker in his page.

At this rate, they might never find Raven.

* * *

Lily's POV 

The cold was really started to get to her. The others had watched while Lily tried endlessly to escape the dark chambers, staying silent, they knew they could dissuade her. Her heavy stone limbs made simple things as walking heavy labor. Lily breathed hard- her breath didn't even show up in the freezing air. The loss of body heat was making things worse. _Am I really dead?_ What about Cortez, he never showed up, he must have been rejected.

_Dead._ It echoed in her head yet again, and she pushed it away.

Fury stomped along at her heels, whiter than ever.

As they walked, words on the walls popped out at her- truths. She had all the knowledge in the world, and was stuck in here, never to get out, forced to protect and warn against what she had come to retrieve.

* * *

James's POV 

The voice droned endlessly in his head. It urged him to move to run, to try to escape the hellish prison, but he ignored it. James lay his head back; it touched the cold stone wall. Chain clinked as he slid to the floor. The Dementor standing watch over him turned in his direction, hollow black hood peering at him. James shuddered and turned away.

'Come on, you can't just lay down and die.'

* * *

Raymond's POV 

Raymond Stinchfield slammed his hand into the table. The books quivered, and the pounding noise echoed through the room, stilling it's occupants to silence. They looked at him. "I'm telling you," he repeated. "They took on the forms of children! They knew we were coming and they killed Walter. Who here wants to tell his family?"

Silence.

"That's right, I'm probably going to have to do it. Do you think I want to? Is it my choice? No, but it must be done. And these creatures must be stopped. Is this the world you want to leave for your children?" His demanded and closed his eyes in remembrance.

Amos Diggory stood up, chair scraping against the rough wooden floor. "No. I refuse to let Dark Creatures destroy everything for my Cedric. I agree. I vote yes on drastic, immediate movement."

Inwardly, Raymond smiled. His eyes snapped open. "Raven." He stated.

Moody nodded from his seat among the others. "Raven."

"What?" Amos asked, confused.

"Raven is the dark creature that killed Walter." He pulled out a piece of paper, and started to scribble down on the lines. "He's evil. Raven is some kind of- some kind of- THING! He has a banshee voice, and he can turn into a werewolf at will. He's clever too, he tricked us into believing he was just a normal kid until he attacked." He finished the form, and passed it on. A couple touches of a wand, and a picture emerged. "Add this to out files. I want Raven brought in NOW. If he's seen, I want him apprehended. Kill him if you have to."

Heads nodded understandingly.

The paper slid through their fingers, face of a boy clear- black hair, green eyes. It would be distributed, and the criminal would be put to death.

* * *

Harmony's POV 

Harmony stood in a completely empty clearing, calling frantically. "Harry!" she took anther deep breath. "HARRY?" Her eyes flew around. Nothing moved.

_He was just in front of me, he couldn't have just disappeared without me noticing, could he?_


	23. To Fly on Midnight Wings

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four: To Fly on Midnight Wings

* * *

Harry's POV 

A couple bounds later, Harry paused. Slowly, he took a step back. The music faded- even if only slightly- and it sang to him, coaxing him to step forward, and join the flow of faeries splashing up the tree and into the sky. It was slowly sucking him in. With what will he had left, he managed to take another step back, before turning around, and running through the trees as fast as he could. He tore free from the sounds behind him, and emerged into clear, cool silence. The silence was good, it left him alone. His thoughts felt fuzzy- _what exactly was that? _Flashes of memory- _the thump of a falling body, calls behind him in a melodious feminine voice, the distracting hum of the faeries._

He walked farther. He was surrounded by trees, trees, and more trees. They grew the longer he walked; he was growing back to his normal height. Almost, but not quite there. He stopped growing. There was no end to them, the trees crept on going and going and he could keep on walking and walking forever. _Walking forever- no, I'm too tired to do that_. Sitting would be fine. He sat where he was, right in the middle of a wet puddle. He vaguely remembered that used to bother him.

He flopped back, relishing in a pure banshee from the squish of the earth- and twisted painfully. What the . . . arching his back, he turned his neck around to look down on a large pair of black wings. He stared. They were the same shade as his hair, pointed at the top and bottom, reaching from somewhere above his shoulders down to brush the forest floor. Hesitatingly, he leapt into the air- and the wings carried him. He lifted higher, flapping slightly, and moving up into the treetops.

_Now THIS is flying._ No broom would ever compare to the thrill. Harry smiled, letting out a whoop. " I have WINGS!" he crowed to the forest, below him. He didn't know where they came from, or why they were there. He didn't even care. Picking a direction, he flapped mightily.

* * *

Professor McGonagall's POV 

Minerva hummed slightly as she walked into the direction of the headmaster's office. She'd had a good day- _no disturbances from the students, for one, and the house elves made the coffee JUST right. It was late._ Time to return the N.E.W.T. grades- _good turnout this year_- to Dumbledore, and have a good night's rest.

The door of the great hall opened as she walked passed, and dark figure passed through. Her head snapped up. Who would be here this time of night? "Who's there?" she asked loudly, voice echoing through the corridor.

Moody, the auror, stepped out of the shadows. "Me."

Minerva nodded, a bit tense. Moody had a bit of a reputation. _What would bring him here, to intrude so late? It would have to be something fairly dire._ "Do you need the headmaster?"

He considered for a moment. "It's been a long day. I had to stop all over, I thinkin' to git down to Madame Rosmerta's. I guess I could . . ." He nodded, and held out a stack of papers. "I was wondering if you could bring these up to-"

Minerva's eyes widened as she saw the face on the poster. "That's Raven!" Moody's head shot up. "What did you say?" he said quietly, suspiciously, drawing his hand away before she could read any of the script.

She blinked, surprised. _What was his problem? _"I said it's Raven."

"You know him?" He said in a fast, interrogating voice.

McGonagall felt a slight edge of fear. _What's wrong with Raven? Why is he on the page?_ "Yes, I know him. He's Raven Snape, Severus's son."

Now it was Moody's eyes that flipped open in surprise, and they stayed there, dumbfounded. "SON! Who's the mother?"

Minerva hesitated. "We don't know." She said finally.

The scarred man nodded, and disappeared into the shadows again with a brisk walk.

"What about-?" she stopped as the door swung shut behind him. "What about the papers?" she finished needlessly.

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry woke up in dewy grass. He had flown all night- the morning sun as already a considerable distance from the horizon. The edge of one of his wings brushed his cheek and he smiled lazily. He felt good; there was a warm glow in his chest. A hand came down hard on his shoulder.

"Ahhh!" he yelped, leaping to his feet, and standing around to see who it was.

Before he could see who it was, something hit him in the head, and his vision was enveloped in black.

* * *

Scythe the Dark Elf's POV 

Scythe carried the unconscious boy through the reeds. _If it IS a boy._ The thing was strange- it had wings, large black ones, that on first sight were reminiscent of a butterfly, but after gazing at them looked a bit more like double bat wings, long and graceful. He wondered idly again what it was- looked a bit like an elf, had the ears, the build, and the facial features. Even had the same slender but strong fingers, and quick reaction.

He walked through the trees, eventually dropping the body next to the fire, tying some cords around. The other warriors gathered, looking but not asking who the prisoner was. Tomorrow they would go back to the village. _My wife Leaf might be interested by the thing- she's like that_. Scythe smiled fondly.

A white glow lit up the trees from far away. He peered off into the distance. You could almost see the silver trees guarding Liosalfar, the place of the light elves. Scythe held his head up high. "Dark elves don't need any magical guards to keep safe." He pulled out his trademark scythe and hacked at their firewood, cleaning the blood of their dinner kill of the shiny surface. "We can take care of ourselves." He thought back to their fair-haired opposites snug in their glowing woods. "'Eaters', indeed."

* * *

In the dungeons of Hogwarts (Snape's POV) 

Snape sat next to his favorite cauldron- large, and strangely enough, mad of green marble. The liquid inside bubbled among graceful swirls of green and black as he added dried nettles. The door to his dungeons opened unannounced, and he looked up, startled.

Two men in dark cloaks entered, looking as sinister as possible. Snape sensed that they were trying to scare him, and he scowled. Two can play at that game! He gave them a chilling look, and they stopped, surprised, before giving each other unreadable looks. "Severus Snape?" one stated.

He nodded. "Alastor? Is that you, moody?" he had bad history with Moody. The man kept insisting that he was a death eater. _Well, that was true, but not completely._ He had been working undercover for years. _But, what would bring Moody? I haven't done anything._

They pulled nearby stools and scraped them up, taking dominating seats slightly on either side of him. There was a moment of silence as they eyed each other apprehensively. "My name is Raymond Stinchfield," the other said. "We know where you're son is."

Severus sat stock still trying not to show his astonishment. "You do." He stated calmly.

Moody gave him an eveil eye. "Then you, do, indeed, admit to having a son."

Without hesitation, Snape replied, "Yes, I do."

They gave each other the same knowing look. "May we ask who the mother is?"

Snape eyed the curiously. "Why do you think it's any of your business?" he inquired. _Arrogant bastards, grr._

"We work for the Order of the Phoenix." Moody stated importantly. Raymond, beside him, gave a chilling glare towards Severus, who returned the favor.

"So?" he asked.

Raymond rubbed his pals together. "We're looking for Raven, and we need you tell us where he went."

"I thought you said you know where he is?" Snape answered, raising an eyebrow. Then, he wrinkled his forehead, concerned. "What do you want with Raven?"

"We did. We demand you tell us immediately."

Severus gave a scornful glance. "If I knew where he was, I' be with him now."

Raymond gave him a long, penetrating look. "Let's go." He said softly. "He doesn't know anything." They got up, and started to the door, Snape leaned back to watch them go. On second thought, Raymond turned and with a vicious kick of his well-muscled leg, managed to kick the cauldron over. The potion spilled all over the floor.

Severus flung himself down to catch it, but it was too late. _My potion!_ _I need it to find Rav-Harry!_ "I've been working in that for a year!" he said angrily. He was blinded with hate, but managed to keep himself from drawing his wand. _That's what they want, Severus, they would curse you into oblivion and then arrest you._

"Then maybe you learned something." Raymond said over hid shoulder as he left. "You can't go against us- we WILL bring justice. Once you know where your son is, you will inform us immediately."

The room was empty again. Severus sat in the middle, robe soaked. The cauldron had a crack down the side- it was unusable. He sighed, and got up to gather the ingredients to start over.


	24. Father of Mine

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three: Father of Mine

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry squeezed through two tightly wedged branches, boots in hand. He'd been living with the dark elves for many years, but he'd never lost his love of the trees. His bare feet lit along a long sturdy branch. It would hold him- he weighed a lot less than he looked. The length of the branch ran over the surface of a small but swift river. He looked down and watched as the liquid gurgled and bubbled around the rocks. A thought turned toward his safety, and he dismissed it. As he moved on, his dagger fell from his belt and down into the river.

"Infernal elven silver!" he grunted, hurrying his way down. The damn dagger was floating away. He splashed into the water, up to his waist, watching it. The river got deeper, and a few sure strokes he had caught up to it, and hand it back securely in his fist. His mentor, Scythe, would be furious if he lost his dagger. Scythe was currently teaching him how to fight with it. Harry had had to make the dagger himself _. . . no, losing it would NOT be good._ Scythe had been training Harry for his entire childhood. Here, Harry was know as 'Raven' as the elves were more accustomed to names that came from objects they could touch.

He was now seven years old, and he had grown accustomed to the elven way of life. He ate what he hunted himself, and he learned fighting skills from Scythe who, had been coerced by his wife, Leaf, to 'temporarily' take him in.

Harry stopped at the side of the water, looking down into his reflection inside a still puddle. _Is that really me?_ He had changed to much- he looked absolutely NOTHING like the way he had looked the first time around. His vibrant green eyes were long and slanted dramatically upward; his chin came to a slender point, his face overall triangular. His hair was cut extremely close to his scull, any longer and it would curl like crazy, like his mothers. His skin was well tanned from the sun, dark elves tanned very easily. Harry's ears were pointed and gracefully arched in toward his head at the same angle of his eyes. He was muscular from fighting, yet he had the slender build and long, thin fingers that characterized an elf. It shook him slightly. There were no mirror in the camp; he had not looked at his reflection for years. He sighed, and turned slightly to the side. Another thing that hadn't changed- his wings. The same color as his hair, they sat innocently against his back, as if the most naturally thing in the world. Most didn't know about the wings, he usually wore a black elven cloak over them. The cloak was heavy, and he had discarded it some ways back.

The elves weren't very dependent on each other, they lived in the camps together, but spoke rarely, and Harry could have vanished into the woods for weeks without notice and nobody would go looking for him. Over the years, Harry could no long distinguish between the mind of "Baby Harry" and the mind of "Future Harry". They'd simply combined. They were, of course, one and the same. His mind was completely and totally adapted to the savage, fighting way of life that characterized the dark elves. _If my parents were able to come look for me . . . they would have already. They're wizards, aren't they? _Once upon a time Harry would have set out to look for them, but he could barely remember them! He had to strain, just to see their faces. He had only been with them for a couple days.

A low whistle went through the forest. It was soft, and if you weren't listening for it, you wouldn't have heard it at all. It was also a sound not commonly heard among the elves- it meant that there was someone approaching. Guests- or intruders- were rare, because nobody dared to come into the woods of the Dark Elves.

Quickly, he started through the forest, running swiftly. He picked up his cloak on the way, slinging it over his back. He grimaced as his wet clothes soaked it. Waterlogged, great, now it was even heavier. He ran up from behind and joined the line of elves facing- Harry wrinkled his forehead, startled. The intruders- they were wizards! They were long robes and cloaks and each held a wand firmly in front of them. Some of the wizards looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place them.

Scythe nudged him. "You speak their language, I've heard you." He said softly in elven. "Go ask what they want." Harry nodded, and stepped forward, scanning their faces. That one on the end, he could swear he knew his name, it was on the tip of his tongue but he just couldn't get it. The face was SO familiar; it was like he was blocking the name._ Strange._

"Hello." Harry said, stepping up to them.

One in the front stepped forward also; he gave the impression of being the leader. Harry watched him carefully. He took sure steps, his cold gray eyes and somber face looking down at Harry. Harry gave him an expressionless look. Among the dark elves, there was no leader. There were simply the warriors, and the others. No one had to answer to anyone.

"Where's your chief, your leader?" The gray-eyed man asked.

Harry simply shook his head. "No leader." The words felt strange on his tongue- really strange. Which probably accounted to the fact that he hadn't spoken it in years- shortly after he had come to live with the elves. He even thought in elven.

"Do you answer for them?" he asked, slightly surprised but trying not to show it.

"I translate." Harry said. "We are a ." he searched for the word. "A people." He finished, unsure.

"We came for your help."

Harry thought for a moment, digesting this._ What kind of help? _He motioned with one hand, and the others drew closer, around in a circle. The wizards shifted from foot to foot uneasily.

Harry translated. "Speak." Commanded Scythe. Harry turned to the wizards. "Continue." He urged.

Grey Eyes nodded. "You are the Dark Elves, am I correct?"

Harry didn't translate, he just nodded.

"I am Lord Trucido, and these are my men."

_Lord?_ Harry was silent, but he wondered, translating.

"Have you ever heard of Voldemort?" Trucido asked, standing up straight.

An icy finger slid its way up Harry back. Voldemort. "Yes." He added after a moment, "Hasn't he . . . died? I have heard- and his Deatheaters were captured?" he hadn't heard. He was simply repeating what had happened, the last time around.

"Yes. He had taken precautions for his untimely demise, however, nothing has been seen or heard of him in years, and we believe that he is, in fact, dead. The Deatheaters that were not captured in time turned to me. For I am his son, Lord Trucido."

Harry lowered hid head. _So that's what this was all about. The next Dark Lord. None other than Voldemort's own son._ "What do you wish from us?" he asked.

Trucido squared his shoulder bravely, eyes squinting around the clearing at the Elves. "I, who have been training for this for most of my life, will take over for him. Live his dream and make it a reality. One day, my name too shall be feared by all. I wish for you to help me. In return, I will grant you anything you desire. When I have destroyed all muggles and mudbloods and rule over my kingdom, you will, unlike the others, be left along to do as you wish. You can have land, money, weapons . . ." he stood speculatively. "And . . . sacrifices, as you wish."

Harry felt a bit squeamish. "I will convey your words." He said in a clear voice. " We shall confer on it."

Trucido smiled lazily. "I thought you might. Remember, however, that if you join me, you can reign free over the lands. I heard rumors that your kind prefers to consume human flesh? I have also heard of your legendary fighting skills. I would not restrict you, and you would be able to kill any that you desire."

Now Harry thought he was going to hurl. From the impression that he was getting of what Trucido thought of them, if it were true than he would be unleashing a horror unimaginable. No one would be safe in the muggle or wizarding worlds.

Sighing, he motioned to the others to enter their largest tent, which belonged to Pebble, a single woman with twelve kids. Traditionally, most elves didn't have more than one child but she was an exception. They crowded into the small space, huddle around Harry who recounted word for word the Dark Lord's speech.

There was a moment of silence when he was done. Scythe stood up to give his opinion. "Dark Elves answer to no one!" he declared, and the others cheered, agreeing.

"The stuff he said about eating humans . . . that wasn't true, was it?" Harry asked, hopefully. No body answered. "In times past." Scythe said. Harry nodded, feeling nauseous.

"We shouldn't help him." Harry said loudly.

"Why not?" one of the younger warriors, Arrowhead, stepped forward. "His offers were generous." Some behind him nodded.

"What makes you think he'll stick to that?" Harry asked, slightly nervous. They were actually considering joining the Dark Lord.

"Oh, he will. He wouldn't dare, as fighters we'd be too valuable to him. Think about it." Arrowhead continued. "We could hunt anywhere . . . anything. Humans have shunned us. They stayed away from our home, but we were never welcome anywhere else. With his help, the world is our for the taking." His eyes flashed a deep, dark red that Harry had never seen before. "I, myself, ate a human who carelessly wandered into the eastern border, last week."

Harry sat back, quiet and stunned. _NOW I'm going to hurl._

"What's wrong with our life here?" Scythe asked. "He'll control us, tell us what to do and we'll no longer have the freedom that we once had-"

"Didn't you hear him?" one of Arrowhead's friends interrupted. "Free reign over all lands! All!"

More cheering ensued.

Scythe hushed it, leaning forward, "But-" he said meaningfully, and everyone leaned in to hear. "Is that really worth allying with HUMANS?" he stressed the last word.

The crowd stopped cheering, in deep thought. On that note, Scythe cleverly dismissed them. "It is late. We shall sleep on it tonight, and tomorrow we'll make our decision."

Agreeing, the meeting dispersed. And Harry went to his tent, curling up in his fur blankets. He felt an evil sense of foreboding. The peaceful, _okay, not peaceful, violent, _but undisturbed life he had with the elves seemed about to be shattered.

* * *

Late, Late that night, Harry's POV 

It was thoughts like that that kept Harry up through the night, thinking. He hadn't seen wizards- humans, but that matter, in years. It was strange. They spoke differently, thought differently, acted differently. _To think I'd once been one of them! _They even smelled differently, to his acute senses.

A tingle ran over his body, and he stiffened. The tingle continued, running over his head, along his face, and down his limbs before going up his back. THAT felt weird. His wings twisted on their own, curving in and melting into his skin. He was shifting! Becoming human again!

Jumping up, he looked at his hands. They were different, rounder, fingers shorter. He ducked out of his tent and ran through the tents. He was human! There was no light, but up ahead, was that a fire! He went around it, large steps. He had to get to the river!

As he went, he ran full speed right into someone. Bowled over, they rolled a couple of feet. "Sorry!" Harry cried, looking up and continuing, not looking to see who it was. Everything was blurry and slightly hard to see.

He went through the trees of the forest. He didn't have the elven stamina to back him up anymore, but he was fit from training, and it only took him slightly less time than it had earlier that day. Before the Deatheaters came . . .

He reached the water and fell to his knees, leaning over to peer into the light from the almost full moon. Compared to the last time he had looked . . . "I'm HUMAN!" he affirmed in a slightly awed voice._ I haven't shifted in so long, why now?_

The Deatheaters.

Harry looked closer, hard as it was as his vision was poor. His eyes had leveled out, his face was a bit rounder. He was a little taller, not saying much since he was only seven years old. He was recognizable as "Raven", having had slightly elven features as a human anyway. Anyone who knew him as Raven would see that he was the same person. However, if you didn't know the connection he would look different enough not to be immediately recognized. He looked only a bit different than he had the first time around, while living with the Dursleys. His ears were normal, of course.

He missed his wings. Troublesome as they might have been to hide often, they had always been there, resting heavily against his back. And when he was alone, he could fly, travel as far as he wanted, over everything, watching as the ground dropped away dramatically below him, and the clouds would wisp around the pointed tips of his wings, and the overwhelming sense of SPACE between him and solid ground, through the soaring sensation in his stomach. There was a profound absence.

Voices cut through the trees down to the riverside, and he froze, listening. They were muffled. Ordinarily, he could have heard them, but along with his sight his hearing had diminished as well. He crept closer, surefooted through the trees that he was so familiar with.

The people were right on the other side of a large tree when he finally recognized them. It was Trucido, and . . . someone else.

"I'm telling you, I know what I saw!"

"What do you think it means?"

"The Oracle sent us here for more than just alliances."

"But if we act, support from the Dark Elves may be lost forever. Support that we need. Is that wise, Lucius?"

Lucius. Lucius Malfoy! That was the face that Harry had recognized! Malfoy! He was here!

"Can you imagine the profit if we brought in the one and only Harry Potter?" Lucius reasoned. Harry fell to his knees. They knew he was here!

"How can you be so positive?"

"How many times do I have to say it? It was obvious. If you don't remember correctly, I have known James since we were born. We have been enemies all our lives. Harry is practically IDENTICAL, do you hear me? He has Lily's green eyes. I went to school with her. That's probably where he got the elven features, too. He ran right into me, right next to the fire! I even saw his scar!"

Trucido shut his mouth with an audible click. "The scar . . . rumored . . . to have come from my father?"

"Yes. Eyewitness from a young girl. Blood on the carpet. It's in all off the History books. Look it up yourself."

"What do we do?"

"I sent our men out to look for him already."

A twig snapped behind Harry, and he whipped his head around. They were looking for him already!

"STUPEFY!" The sparks flew at him, and Harry closed his eyes at the spell knocked him over. Everything fizzed and slowly turned black.

"I found him, Lord! He was right behind the tree over here!"

"How interesting." Came Lucius's calm voice.

* * *

James's POV 

Having no companionship in the Dark Lord's dungeon for years, James found himself speaking to the sun.

"Why, hello up there."

The sun didn't answer.

"You look nice and warm."

The sun didn't answer.

"It's too bad I'm stuck down in here."

No answer.

"You know, very few of your rays reach into my cell. In fact, I can barely see you."

No answer.

"So, not to be rude or anything, but would you mind moving over, just a tad bit?"

Still no answer. James sighed. "Not much for conversation, I guess."

There was a knock on the door. "Still alive in there?"

"Yeh." James mumbled. "Come to kill me?"

In answer, the door opened slowly. It hadn't been opened in so long; the anti-rust charmed hinges had rusted over (now THAT was a long time). And it took several men to shove it open.

He peered up at them. Deatheaters.

"The Dark Lord requests you."

James wondered idly what Voldemort was up to. He hadn't REALLY talked to anyone since he had gotten in here. Thank heaven that the Dementors were off most of the time . . . torturing and whatnot. He expected that's why he was still sane. The food was passed through the bars. He had talked to some of the prisoners. Most of them had died, and the ones left mumbled incoherently, like the John Doe across the corridor that repeated nothing but, "Red, red, red, red, red . . ." all day long. James didn't really want to know what he meant by that.

They grabbed his arms, and dragged him along. Finally getting his legs to work, James stumbled to catch up. In the prison, his one hope was that if they had gotten Lily or Harry, they would have told him, just to torture him. _Why are they fetching me now? Was it a bad thing? Lily . . ._

He entered a large room. He realized he was under the dungeons- why would the Dark Lord be down there?

He passed a face he recognized, looking down on him with satisfaction. "Malfoy!" he hissed, but his lifetime nemesis didn't answer. He simply grinned in a very self-satisfied way. James took that as a bad sign.

He was taken to the front of the room crowded with Deatheaters. Lucius sat down, next to a throne like seat the held a young man, in perhaps his early twenties.

James blinked slowly, cogs turning in his skull. "You're not Voldemort." He said finally.

The Deatheaters laughed. "Why, you must have been down there for a long time." Said the man on the throne. "I am the new Dark Lord, Lord Trucido. I am Voldemort's son."

"What happened to Voldemort?" James asked. _A new Dark Lord! Already? My, how the time had flown! How long have I been down there- really? It's been a very long time . . . time which I had had no method of measuring._

Trucido stood to his feet, stepping forward, and sticking his face directly into James's. "Would you like to know what happened to my father?"

James nodded. _Voldemort's dead. At least that's good. What's with the new guy? It's almost too much, after being alone in an enclosed space for years._

James repeated that mentally to himself. _'For years'_. It suddenly occurred to him for the first time that things weren't going to be the same when if he got out. _Harry will be older. But how old?_

"My father was killed. Struck down. Came to an unfortunate end. I bet you would like to know who struck him down, am I correct?" He leaned closer, and said in a cryptic whisper, "Your son."

_My son! Harry killed Voldemort . . . what!_

"We kept you in out dungeons in hopes that one day you would bring your son to us- but that is no longer necessary."

James felt a trickle of fear. "Where's my son?"

"Oh, right here!" The black robes parted, and a small figure was thrown in front of him.

* * *

a tad bit earlier) Severus Snape's POV 

Severus leaned wearily over his thick book. He was just about giving up. He should look for another spell . . . a better one. Inside, however, he knew there wasn't one. He peered at the writing as it wrote itself. "A handful of rose petals . . ." he had that. Grabbing a handful, he tossed it into his cauldron. He turned back to his book, waiting for more instructions to appear. Instead, two single words came in their place.

THE END

Snape blinked. The end . . .the end! The potion was done! Excitedly, he jumped to his feet. Remus had stayed with the werewolves, who had since moved into the Forbidden Forest. Naturally, Sirius had to go with him. Typical . . . the point being, they were up with Dumbledore in his office right now!

Snape set off through Hogwarts, running through the corridors. When he finally got to the Headmaster's office, he was out of breath. He mumbled the password and stumbled up the stairs.

". . . done . . ." he wheezed out.

The three looked at him strangely.

"I TOLD you," Sirius said loud and importantly, "ONE day, all the grease from his hair is going to soak into is brain and-"

"I'm done." Snape cut him off. "The potion is finished."

"The one you have been working on for Harry?" Dumbledore, finally comprehending.

"Yes." Snape nodded.

"Well, lets get moving!" Remus declared, and they started off- running all the way back. Severus had a SERIOUS stitch in his side by the time her got there. After half a moment to catch his breath, he hauled the laden cauldron next to the fire, where they could see, and added the final ingredient- the baby blanket, perfectly preserved. The contents bubbled shortly, then swirled to a halt, stilling and clearing very much like a pensieve. A room came into focus as they watched with fascination.

Deatheaters stood in a circle, standing around a man on his knees.

"James!" Sirius gasped out.

"He's alive!" Remus said in relief.

Snape was confused. "This was supposed to show us Raven." He complained to Dumbledore.

"Why look-" Dumbledore said, looking amused. "If I'm not mistaken, that's him right there."

They looked deeper. A young boy had been hurled alongside the man, who was staring in awe. Severus felt a sliver of disappointment, the boy looked absolutely identical to James. He was small for his age, seven, and stood up defiantly to the Deatheaters. His face was covered with dark smudges of mud. He looked like a savage. Snape wondered where he had been.

Without notice, the boy went into a blur of action. The nearest Deatheater got kicked in the face, and went flying backwards. Harry swept the feet out from underneath several more, arms and legs swiftly dispatching his opposition with ease.

"Whoa!" Sirius. "Look at him fight!" he said proudly. Remus nodded. The ferocity scared them. He attacked with a vengeance that went right for the neck. The Deatheaters lay on the floor, but which ones were passed out and which were dead?

"Where's he been?" Severus said softly. He felt a profound sense of sadness- he had just wanted to help, probably for the first time in his life when his feelings for another human being were genuine. He felt like a father to Raven, and there he was with James. His real father.

The fighting continued. The picture stared to slowly fade, but none of them noticed until it was gone completely and the surface of the potion was still.

Severus checked his book. "It's done. If we want to see more, we need another object of his. But . . . we COULD track that location."

"Which will lead us to Harry and James!" Sirius pointed out happily.

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry stopped, and looked around. He had woken up, and he could figure how where he was. Seeing himself Surrounded by Deatheaters, he had simply enough attacked them, and the ones who didn't run didn't even have a chance to life their wands.

He looked around trying to recognize his surroundings. It looked like a dungeon of some sort- a figure moved behind him, and he whirred around halting. The face of the thin, ragged man was unmistakable. It was his father.

Harry's breathing felt ragged. They stood in silence, father and son that hadn't seen each other since the former was a few days old.

"Father?" Harry said finally.

James nodded. "How did you know it was me? I haven't seen you . . . I must look so different . . ."

That's right, he couldn't exactly claim he remember James. "Er, I, er, heard Trucido say that you were my father. He was going to kill us."

_His father,_ James, nodded again. "That certainly got rid of them." He glanced around. "Where have you been?"

Harry looked around too. "Here and there. Mostly there. We should leave, do you know where we are?"

James nodded. "Under the dungeons. What's it like," he motioned vaguely. "Out there?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Nobody had heard from Voldemort in years, and according to eyewitness he's dead. This Trucido guy is new."

"What happened to Voldemort-"

"We should go before they come back." Harry interjected. "We'll talk later." Harry thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I haven't been in contact with the world."

He turned his back on his father and headed for the door. James followed, and then led the way up the stairs where he had come from. No one tried to oppose them, apparently the Dementors were all gone and the Deatheaters had all fled. They didn't talk as they went, each deep in thought.

A straight corridor led them out to the entrance, where a path led off into a forest. Harry hesitated. "Should we let the prisoners out?" he asked.

James shrugged. "They're just prisoners. Probably in there for a reason." His voice was suddenly coarse and raspy.

"But what about you! Some are probably unjustly imprisoned!" Harry asked._ What's wrong with him?_

"Goodbye, kid." James started off the path without looking back.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked frantically. _My FATHER couldn't leave him here!_

"Your father," said James, "Isn't available right now. I was quite for so long that he just thought that I had left. I however, was hidden in his head all this time." He stood up importantly. "I am Gallagher Mungo. I have possessed your father until the point of when he could free me of that heel infested fortress. Now I'm out." He looked down the path, obviously pleased with himself. "I like this body. I think I'll keep it."

He continued and Harry ran to catch up. Mungo turned around, wand holding Harry at bay. "Nothing you can do can get me out of your Father's head. Nothing."

Harry hadn't even seen him pick the wand off one of the Deatheater's bodies. James touched the tip to himself, and disappeared, apparating.

Harry stood staring at the spot where his father had stood. _What do I do? What __do I do?__ The 'Mango' guy had said so himself- There was nothing I CAN do. Except go home._

He wandered off, following wherever his feet carried him.

* * *

Lily's POV 

"Everyone always wants to be immortal." She commented to Fury, who was fast asleep. "But in truth, it SUCKS." The place of truth was freezing cold as usual, she didn't even notice anymore.

* * *

Severus's POV 

Lord Voldemort's hideout was swarming with people. Some were ministry, some were prisoners, and some were Dumbledore's people. The prisoners were being let out, and taken care of. The entire fortress had been searched.

And no sign of the Potters.

Snape walked mournfully through, checking the rooms yet another time. He wandered down to the room in question, the one that had led them to the fortress. The Deatheaters were all piled to the side, and he went through, checking their pulse. Every single one of them was dead. Severus sighed. It was a dead end. He had to find a different way to find Raven.

At least he knew that Raven was out there, alive, somewhere.

* * *

Harry's POV 

His feet had carried him. Harry looked around at his surroundings he was back with the elves. They were his family, he had grown up with them. They were his way of life. He started down the hill past the white forest, back to his home. _My father was nothing but a disappointment._


	25. Forget the Past

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four: Forget the Past

* * *

Lily's POV

_Now, the ground isn't satisfied being cold. Oh, no, it has to be wet and HARD, too._ There was no doubt that the ground was hard, Lily had been sitting in the same place for several hours now. Stupid ice. Hopefully her butt hadn't frozen to it yet.

Lily as thoroughly sick of ice and snow, and cold. And hardness. She sat on a ice block, watching the other immortal prisoners wander about aimlessly. She had given up trying to figure out what in the world they were doing. The years had passed . . . so many._ How many?_ Lily thought about the years to come. She obviously wasn't going anywhere soon. _In the future . . . how will I feel? _She could practically FEEL the presence of her family, SOMEWHERE out there. Out there . . . how were they? Where they okay? She had failed her mission . . . these were thoughts that she thought everyday. How would it be once the years had passed and all her outside connections were dead? Would she be happier, stuck in here, while knowing that if she was not, she could be out somewhere with her family? Or more miserable, once they were obviously dead, and she was all alone in the world.

She had even tried spelling her way out- her wand didn't have any effect on the hard-as-stone walls, and apparition was blocked by them.

A sharp whimper from Fury cut through the air, and she sat up straight, and unstuck her butt from its ice block. "Fury?" she said, getting up and heading in the direction of the cry. She wasn't worried- stupid little creature probably got stuck in one of the vaults again- she turned the corner, and the gryphon wasn't there. "Fury?"

There was another whimper, from above, and Lily looked up. The young gryphon, now older, but not appearing to have aged at all, was somewhere up on a ledge, where Lily couldn't see. It sounded like . . . a scuffle? What was going on? "FURY?" she shouted, but there was no answer. Her voice echoed hollowly up along the chamber.

Lily wrinkled her forehead, and peered around looking for a way to get up to where her little friend was. Fury may be annoying, but Lily still CARED about her . . .

Suddenly there was a creaking cracking noise, and the ledge above her collapsed, raining down flurries of snow and shards of ice that accumulated in Lily's hair. She managed to jump back in time, and it smashed into the ground. There was a rain of feathers as Fury flew to safety, crowing victory.

The cockatrice, knocked casually over the edge, hit the hit the ground seconds after, and smashed into a million pieces.

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry stirred slightly in his sleep. He was riding on the back of a huge, black dragon.

* * *

Harry's Dream 

A snake was falling, through the air. He fell fast, but to Harry he moved in slow motion, rotating as he drifted down to the hard icy ground below. After a minute of falling, it finally hit the ground- and shattered like ice. The shards that were once the snake cracked and exploded out in all directions before. The shards fell to the ground, and dissolved. There was the clang of a loud bell, and then the crystallized walls began to buckle and melt, and his eyes were drawn to a small figure fleeing though the middle. Before he could see who it was, he was drawn back up, like out of a pool. Something moved.

* * *

End of Harry's Dream, Harry's POV 

Harry sat up, knifes drawn from their hidden places at the ready. His eyes pierced the twilight darkness easily. He slid the knives away. "Bear, what are you doing in my tent?"

If there was anyone he could call a friend, Bear would be it. They trained together all day long, learning how to fight, to kill, to hunt, among other things. Bear was a dark elf only slightly older than Harry who had been taken in my their Master several years ago. He was a wide chested sturdy boy that looked a lot like his name; dark, wide, and hairy. He was taller then Harry, and stronger, but he lacked the nimbleness that made Harry so quick. Or Raven, as he was still known.

Bear eyed him strangely. "I thought there was an attack." He said grudgingly. "I wanted to be part of it."

"An attack?" Harry asked thinking. "You mean the dwarf threat." He shrugged. "They've never had the nerve to attack us here before, I wouldn't worry about it." As the legends all said, dwarves were the biggest enemy of the elves. Harry found this amusing for some reason.

Bear shook his head. "No, I saw a light. A glowing. Bright green, right from your tent. It faded when I came in."

Harry considered it. A light? "Go back to sleep, Bear."

Bear grumbled something and turned to leave. A voice, however, stopped him in his tracks at the doorway. "Well, I see that you two are up!" Scythe stood in front of him, looking in. "You two must be more silent. I heard your conversation from my tent. As it is, that will serve out purpose for now. UP, Raven. We'll start early this morning."

Harry almost groaned. They had been up late last night, practicing skills to bring down magical creatures. This time, it had been dragons. If he ever became face to face with another Hungarian Hortail, he could just jump on it's back and start stabbing it in the eyes like a pro.

He got up, and grabbed his things, following while speaking in a low voice. "We're going on a hunting trip? Now? What about the others?" he stopped when he could see the camp. All of the warriors were up, and waiting. And they were all looking at him.

Scythe shrugged. "You woke them up, too." He sounded amused.

Harry shot a glare at Bear, who glared back. The large party exited the camp, and started off to the end of the forest.

People often joked about what a pair they made- Bear, with the gruff demeanor and bear-like looks, and quick Raven, short, with his pitch black wings. It was irony embodied. _Oh yeah, and Scythe marching either in front or behind us with his scythe in hand._

* * *

Lily's POV 

The Fortress was breaking down! The walls, all of their delicate, engraved secrets, were nothing but mush. She looked up, and there was a hole in the ceiling- with sunlight streaming through! Beautiful glorious sunlight! Fury popped up next to her, and she hummed up for the hole, emerging in the fresh air.

She felt a jolt, somewhere inside near her heart, and she knew that he immortality was gone.

_But we're FREE!_ Fury flapping happily by her side. _It's too good to be true._

Behind her, a few of the other prisoners came out, receiving the same jolt. She ran over to meet them- and the ground disappeared. The entire humungous cavern had caved in. The others plunged down, but she grabbed them and hummed to safety, as Fury got the others, fighting against the whistling biting wind that threatened to pull them down.

She was free. And safe. _And anything but warm, but that's okay, for now._

* * *

Harry's POV, some time later 

It happened when they were already outside their territory.

They were in a large, dark, unlit forest, where their nightsight sure came in handy. It didn't have the atmosphere that their forest did, but the branches closed in over them, some ways above. They had been stalking through the forest, spread apart, and hunting, when the whistle blew.

Harry jumped. The whistle, the shrill one that could be heard for miles. He hadn't heard it in years, not since the Dark Lord's delegation had come. This brought Harry some guilty thoughts. _How ss the wizarding world? Is the dark lord still trying to take over? _He had tried to forget about them, but every time he remembered, he felt an urge to go and check on it. Something held him back. _The world outside is nothing but bad dreams. Both of my parents are gone. I changed things, didn't I? Isn't my job done? _The dark elves would never join with the dark side now, anyway. After his kidnapping, they made it clear that if any human tried to enter the forest there would be no mercy. His mind wandered back to his dream. He hadn't had time to think of it, until now. It as almost faded from his memory _. . . the shards of ice . . . _what stuck out clearest was the running figure at the end. _Who is it? Is it someone I know?_

He had a faint recollection of the black dragon from another time. Harry could see the shiny black scales in his mind's eye, as he sat comfortably between two large pumping wings. He strained to remember what Camellia had said about it, something about the consciouses . . .

The bushes exploded to his side, and Bear came thundering through. "What are you standing for? Move!" he shoved at Harry, and Harry ran along with him as they bounded swiftly through the trees. His mind was pulled back to the present. _Oh yeah, the whistle of alarm._

"What's going on?" he asked his comrade.

"The Dwarves are attacking." He told Harry. "I ran into some others back there who had seen them. They outnumber us, and they have some kind of weird nets. I think they're taking prisoners."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"I don't know!" Bear hissed back.

"Okay." They went on. Bear didn't look nearly as thundering when in full motion. He showed the grace of a true elf. Which was more than Harry was, anyway. _Unless the rumors were true, and Bear's father really HAD been a bear. _Harry almost chuckled but then ran on.

They ran into a clearing, and were confronted with a huge horde of dwarves, set up in a half circle to prevent any escapes. They froze for a second. "Oh shit." Harry murmured, and they split up instinctively, Harry going to for the right while Bear went to the left.

* * *

Lily's POV 

_All right, free is nice, free is good. Free is also cold. And windy. Where do we GO? _Lily thought urgently. They had been wandering on the frozen tundra for hours, and she had the profound feeling that they were going in circles.

She stumbled along, and tripped on something sticking out of the snow. She stopped and fell to her knees, exhausted. Fury let out a little whimper. Lily looked down, running her hands over what she had tripped on. What WAS it? It was black, and smooth, and hard, which a glassy surface. Though that wasn't saying much- everything here was hard with an icy surface.

The ground started rumbling, and Lily panicked, springing backward with newfound energy and sprawling some distance away. Was there another underground cavern? She had forgotten Fury, who smacked into the ground next to her as the ground in front of them buckled and jumped up. The black thing came out of the ground, to reveal more black things, all connected, until she recognized the shape.

"Cortez!" she screamed at him in relief. "What the fuck are you doing here?" She was so surprised and angry that her breathing was harsh and rapid. "I was so worried about you!" she ran up and smacked him on one of his feathers, hurting her hand. Slowly, she looked up. "Damn you've gotten big!"_ He's about twice his size before- evidently wasn't affected by the immortality spell._ "Where did you come from?" she asked, more gently this time.

Cortez shook himself to get some ice and snow off him. 'I forgot to tell you.' He chirped sadly. 'My feathers are so insulating that I wouldn't be able to freeze to death, and follow you.'

Lily felt a pang in her heart. "You waited there . . . for me?" she asked.

Cortez nodded his great head. 'Rocs live long.'

"Oh." She said nodding her head in a sarcastic way. "They LIVE long." As if that explained anything. But he had done it for her, and she stayed silent.

Cortez bent down, and Lily scrambled up his tall side to stand in the middle of his back, like a platform. Fury settled down.

_My ticket home. _Lily thought happily. Thoughts of what had passed while she waited threatened to creep up on her, but she pushed them away to bask in her victory.

* * *

Harry's POV 

The trees passed by in a blur on either side. They passed by with a speed that surprised him. The dwarves weren't fast enough to be on his heels, but if they could then they would be. They surrounded him, however, and they knew where he was. He breathed hard, skidding to a stop and looking around to see where one was. There was a dwarf to his left- a net sprung up in front of Harry, catching his foot. Pulling out a knife that was woven into his shirt, he tore at the net, but it held. With a yank, he tore it out from where it was anchored and carried it along.

He ran so fast the tears streamed form his eyes and stung on his cheeks. A wall of dwarves sprung up in front of him, and he shot upward, wings bursting from his cloak and spreading as he lifted off the ground and used his momentum to shoot straight up. Cries of surprise followed him.

Something sprung around him, falling from above. He saw the crossed lines in his vision against the blur of the trees. He was in a tunnel, and it was inevitable. The net fell into place, snapping against the now bare skin of his arms. The ropes ensnared him, and he was held in place. The strangely woven webbing clung to him and hampered his movements. He reached for a knife, and the net tightened. "Magic." He breathed. _That's why they finally dared to attack- they had an advantage this time._ The cords tightened, and Harry wisely stopped moving. That's also how they had managed to catch him even though he was flying away. Harry sighed. _What I would give for a wand, or some protection spells._

The net was slowly lowered, among exclamations of wonder in dwarfish. They had never seen anything like him. Something was shoved into his mouth, and he was forced to swallow.

Harry fell into a deep, drugged slumber.

* * *

Lily's POV 

The cool spring air and view had never been more welcome. Lily and Fury basked in the sun. She remembered a time when Fury had been unwelcome to her- now they were like family.

Her skirt thawed, and the pockets on the side unstuck to each other. She reached in, and pulled out the 'all-knowing' paper that Camellia had given her, slightly wet but still fine. She grinned. "Please, Camellia, a map." She opened it, but instead of a map, it was a page of music notes. She sighed. "Map, notes, all the same." She read along, trying to figure out the tune. "I suppose I should sing it."

She sang, letting the notes roll over Fury, Cortez, the clouds. It resonated through the sky on a soft and pleading note. The song gained a pulling, anxious quality.

It was Fury who was most affected. She jumped up, and looked around, sniffing wildly. With a leap, she jumped off Cortez's back and headed to their left, flying in a clear straight line. Words wrote themselves at the top of the page in a self satisfied way. "The finding spell." Lily threw back her head and laughed. She didn't know what exactly was so funny, except that she was free, and things were back on track. "A finding spell will do just as well." She murmured and leaned over to watch Fury.

"Follow her." She told Cortez, who shifted his wings and flapped gently to change directions. _Here I come. _She thought silently.

* * *

Remus's POV 

Dumbledore was strolling along in front, followed by McGonagall, Snape, and then finally himself. Snape had been giving him the cold shoulder all after noon, and it was wearing on his nerves. He had better things to think about, however. The new exciting sights, sounds, and for him, smells.

Dumbledore had decided to go to the Lag Aragch, the dwarf marketplace. They walked along, passing stalls full of exotic objects that were being offered. Remus gazed openly. This is kind of fun! He thought. The stereotype about dwarves was not true at all- they were only slightly shorter, yet they were quite wide. Not as in fat, but as in sturdy. A strange smell wafted by his nose, and he froze.

Not that that was new. He had smelled strange smells all evening. But this one was different. He felt like he had smelled it before. The Dwarf smells had a cadence, a harmony to them, but this smell didn't go with it at all. It stuck out and called his attention. He caught up with Dumbledore.

"I smell something really odd." Remus told him, and Dumbledore gave him a look.

"Is that really such a surprise? You've never met dwarves before, have you?"

Remus shook his head. "No, but this is different." The smell grew stronger- and then it started to fade. Remus shrugged. "Forget it. It's not that important and it's going away." He thought about it. "Everything, even all the odd things, smell like DWARF. Except that."

Snape, who had started listing to their conversation, stepped up behind them. "Trying to show off with your superior sense of smell again, are you?" he said in a disgusted tone. Shaking his head, Severus walked away. Remus ignored him.

* * *

Severus Snape's POV 

Severus snorted rudely and turned away before Dumbledore could say anything. Remus had been become increasingly more irritating lately. And now Dumbledore had insisted that he come along on the trip- _how FUN_.

Snape wandered down a side alleyway, not really paying attention to his surroundings. The dwarves paid him no mind either- they had other customers to attend to. They displayed their wares on bright cloths over sturdy wooden tables, standing behind proudly, shaking their fists and holding up an item or another. Their gold- as they insisted only to be paid in gold- hung from pouches on their belts.

Some of the later dwarves caught his attention- they didn't have any belt pouches. Their hair was long and unruly, beards to rival Hagrid's. They wore black clothing, and instead of wares, and tables, and pretty tablecloths, they were adorned with vicious looking weapons of all shapes and sizes. As they moved through the crowd, other dwarves drew back, almost with out thinking about it, growing still and waiting as the dark ones passed.

Severus decided to leave.

He caught up with the others just down the road. They didn't notice his slight distress- he would have been embarrassed if they had. ESPECIALLY Remus.

"Don't go." A voice stopped his in his tracks. He stood listening. The voice was young, soft, and slightly raspy. It had an odd accent, lilting and melodic. It wasn't a loud sound; it was soft in a way that gave Severus the feeling that the sound had traveled to his ears alone. Someone in a crowded room whispering right in your ear.

The other stopped looking back at him. Minerva opened her mouth to say something, but he silently put his finger over his lips to stop her. The look on his face was so intense that they leaned forward to hear what he had to say. A short silence. "Did you hear that?" he said abruptly. They listened.

"Please." Remus's eyes grew wide, and the others listened closer. "Please don't go."

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry's head felt like it was stuffed with cloth. Everything seemed slightly blurry, and he couldn't focus on anything. _The drugs,_ a part of him realized.

He leaned up weakly to see where he was. He was in a large cage, which swung from the arms of one of the elves. The bars were crisscrossed and smelted together, dwarven made. Everything outside of his unmerrily bouncing prison was one, big blur. Looking up, the fierce eyes of one of the elves blazed white. He curled up and peeled out from underneath his arms, watching the rough ground pass below him.

His prison was shaped like a bird cage, domed at the top, and small. Very small, he was surprised to realize that last time he had been this age, even though he had been living with the Dursleys, he had been much larger. He certainly would never have fit into an enclosure as small as this one. He wasn't thinner, exactly, in fact he was more muscular, but still really slender. He was just smaller, shorter. He looked many years younger than he was. Harry shifted uncomfortably. Out of fear of him flying away, most likely, they had bound his wings together, and his arms were spotted with bruises, and littered with small stinging cuts. They weren't directly inflicted; they must come from traveling. Exactly how far had they gone? And where were they now?

A small distance away, a face slowly grew clear- Snape's.

Never had he been happier to see that crooked nose. He sat up, almost beaming himself on one of the crossbars. Snape joined with a few more familiar faces. Dumbledore! McGonagall! Professor Lupin! They were SO CLOSE! He almost yelled out, except one of the dwarves accidentally hit the back of his cage with a boot, and it rattled him all the way down into his teeth. He opened his mouth again, and coughed hoarsely as his throat closed in on itself.

"Don't go!" he pleaded softly. If only they would just turn around- if only they would just see me. As long as they were there, right in front of him, he had hope. He watched them closely waiting for some sort of signal that they realized he was there.

An itching tingling sensation coursed through his veins. He shuddered, scratching absentmindedly at his wings. They start slowly warping, dwindling, curling in on themselves. Slowly his wings escaped their bonds, as they melted into his back. His ears shrunk dramatically, and the bright light hurt his nocturnal eyes just a bit less. The cage was closing in on him when he realized in truth he was simply growing. He stared at his hands in shock. "Nice timing." He muttered with appreciation.

What he hadn't bargained for, though, was as the metal bands that had held his wings in place were freed, they fell to the ground with an echoing clatter, arousing the attention of the dwarves.

* * *

Severus Snape's POV 

The clatter rang in their ears, and the four turned around to see what the sound was. They couldn't really tell- it was nothing but a mess of hands and feet- and the big butt-ugly dwarves that Severus had met in the alleyway. "Er." he said, glancing nervously. "Let's be on our way, shall we?"

He started to walk away, but as non of the others followed him, he simply sighed, and stopped.

Remus was looking back as well. "I wonder what's going on?" he said vaguely, watching. The warrior dwarves stomped angrily and marched to the side of the road where they commandeered a table. The salesdwarf grabbed her wares and took off, clearing the area. They had a metal birdcage on it, and they peered in. After a moment's deliberation, they clustered together and squabbled in warped, hushed tones.

Minerva's eyes bugged as a slender hand reached out from between the bars. "There's someone in there!" she exclaimed. A dwarf with woven blankets laden on his shoulders stopped next to them.

"They must be bringing in prisoners." He speculated, leaning back slightly. "Most likely an elf." he made a disgusted face.

"An elf . . . in a birdcage?" Severus asked, curious.

The dwarf shrugged. "Elves are smaller than people think." He snorted. "Dramatized . . . filthy creatures. Though a birdcage, that is very unique." He added a shrug. "I guess for lack of anything else. Most likely a young one that they caught."

"What do they do to the prisoners?" Remus asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Probably bring him into our capitol- where the King is." The dwarf winked and continued on, and all others discarded the presence of the fierce looking warriors and their prisoner.

The wizards couldn't really see into the shadow of the cage, but they could see the silhouette of the elf, who was reaching out to them. "Dumbledore! Snape! Remus! Professor McGonagall!" the voice returned. "Don't leave me here!"

They gasped. "How does he know our names?" Remus asked softly

They walked forward together and went up to the dwarves. Dumbledore tapped one on the shoulder, and they could see the young elf peering out at them, eyes bright.

The Dwarves all turned to face him. Dumbledore started rambling fluently in their native tongue. Snape's jaw almost dropped, until he realized who this was considering- _Dumbledore. Dumbledore speaks every language that I've ever heard of . . . _He nudged the headmaster's shoulder.

"What are you saying?" he inquired almost inaudibly.

Dumbledore leaned back over and answered out of the corner of his mouth. "I'm asking if the prisoner is for sale."

"Ah." Severus nodded, then did a double take. "Do you realize how much that's going to cost?"

"Yes."

Severus sighed.

The dwarves mumbled among themselves, and then one stepped forward, uttering something to Dumbledore, while shaking his head in a firm 'no'.

Dumbledore started again, speaking with ease, on a coaxing, wheedling note.

_He's good,_ Snape thought.

Again, they shook their heads.

Dumbledore stood with his shoulders back as if in graceful defeat, and then stated something clearly and loudly.

All that were listening hushed. The eyes of the dwarf in the front bugged out.

Severus tugged insistently on the side of the Headmaster's robe like a young child. "What did you say? What did you say?" he asked, throwing his dignity away.

Minerva gave Dumbledore the evil eye. "Professor! What did you say to them?"

Lupin looked apprehensive.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I said that they can name their price, they can have anything they want."

Snape grimaced, and Minerva's eyes lit.

"Anything they WANT? All for an ELF?" she admonished.

Dumbledore smiled. "Curiosity killed the cat. So if we end up broke, then we're considerably well off."

Minerva just shook his head.

The warrior dwarves spoke rapidly and excitedly among them selves, in hushed whispers. Slowly, they became quiet, faces still. They had one request, anything they wanted, among all of them . . . what to ask for.

One said something to Dumbledore, who nodded without comment.

"What did they say?" Minerva ducked her head and jerked it toward Dumbledore, forgetting to look dignified as well.

Remus looked on the verge of tears . . . of laughter. Snape couldn't' imagine what was so funny. Minerva leaning forward and ducking her head like a goose, maybe.

Dumbledore turned to them. "They only said that they knew who I was. Nothing else." He said, and gave them a stern look.

_So they understand the possibilities of his offer, then, _Snape noted. _That's quite a dilemma._

"Oh." Minerva said.

Finally they stepped forward, all of the dwarves. Their face was solemn, still they motioned Dumbledore into their circle where they conferred in hushed whispers. The dwarves around the edges leaned in slowly, but they backed off among harsh glances from the warrior dwarves.

Dumbledore nodded, smiling to himself, and the dwarves cheered. He shook the hand of the leader, and they bid farewell, simply handing over the cage, which Dumbledore handed to Remus, who carried it easily.

Even he gathered around Dumbledore as the dwarves headed in the opposite direction.

"What did you promise them?"

"What did they ask for?"

"Oh dear, I hope you haven't done anything drastic . . ."

Dumbledore held up a hand. "Well, at first they had trouble deciding. Imagine, anything they wanted, from me, Albus Dumbledore . . . they could have riches, or a spell done for them, something like that. But the more they talked, the more they realized how trivial these things were. And finally, they decided something that was worth their wish."

There was a moment of silence.

"And what was that?" Minerva asked when it became obvious that he wasn't continuing.

Dumbledore grinned brightly. "That shall remain between them, and me."

"Aw . . ."

"Professor Dumbledore . . ."

"Come on!"

He turned his attention to the cage. The others sighed, and joined him. There was no immediately obvious way to open it. They fumbled around a bit, but it became clear that it wasn't going to just open for them. There was no space for a lock, either. The young elf was asleep, or most likely passed out.

"We should have asked them how to open it." Minerva said, as she shook one of the bars in frustration.

Dumbledore hefted it by the handle and gave it back to Remus. "Too late. We'll just take it back to Hogwarts and figure it out there."

* * *

Lily's POV 

The wind blew Lily's long hair back, over her shoulders and through the air. It felt really refreshing, through her hair was a tad bit disappointing- it was ragged, from all the bits that had frozen and snapped off.

But she was off to find James, and her hair could wait.

Fury was still off in front of them, and there was definitely land below, for hours it had been nothing but ocean. Fury was bee-lining for her destination, wherever that was. Slowly, the little- as she hadn't grown during her time as an immortal- gryphon's wings started to dip, and she sloped down, Cortez following.

"We're getting somewhere!" she exclaimed.

Cortez inclined his great head, and she laughed for joy.

They sloped down, farther and farther until the houses of a small village came into view.

"People." She said, pointing at the dots. "You better stay here, Coz." She said, rubbing his back affectionately.

He whistled affirmation, and she leaped off, free-falling down to catch up with her little friend before humming to a stop right above the ground. Fury had already landed, and she meandered ahead, snuffling through the bushes before starting off. Lily followed at her tail, murmuring encouragement.

They came upon a small dirt path, and Lily rejoiced as Fury followed the path up to a compact, but spacious house with blue trim and shutters, a small garden filled with vegetables, and a large wooden door. Fury sniffed her way in a circle, and then sat next to the door, looking up expectantly.

_This is it,_ Lily thought. _Where or what it is, I don't know, but this is it._ She knocked on the door, listening to the sound echo through the house.

"Coming!" the voice called. Lily shivered as a chill ran up her back. _He sounds so FAMILIAR._

As the steps of the person on the other side of the door came toward her, Lily was hit with the realization of this reality. _What was he doing here? If he was free- why didn't he come looking for me? He loves me, I know that- he wouldn't have given up so quickly._ _Yet here he is, nice house, nice garden . . ._

Her doubts were swept away as the door opened, and she became face to face with James. Her heart must have skipped a beat, as she stood in shock staring at him. He stared back at her. Without speaking she reached out to touch his face.

Without warning, his hand snapped out with the Quidditch reflexes she knew so well, and grabbed her forearm. _Quidditch reflexes that he had gotten from endless practicing out on the field, at night, early morning, in the cold air, while I sat on the hard benches waiting for him, swathed in layers of jackets and blankets through the rain and snow, cheering . . ._

He lifted an eyebrow, giving her a speculative look. "Excuse me," he said haughtily. "Do I know you?"

Her heart fell out of her chest, and was trampled under a thousand horses. She stood unmoving, tears just not COMING, under his harsh gaze.

_He forgot me. I haven't changed, I haven't aged a DAY, I have been immortal, goddammit, I don't look that different, do I? I just can't._

"It's me." she said clearly, glottal stop at the end of her words, choking down sobs before continuing. "Your wife, Lily. It's me, Lily." She repeated, looking up into his eyes.

Finally, she saw comprehension there. "Oh!" he said finally. "You're James's wife!"

She froze. She stood in silence, be fore grabbing his arm and gazing at him like a madwoman. "You're not James?" she said finally.

"Well, I am, but no." He said, and going on before she could interrupt. "You see, the person that you see before you is indeed your husband James. The person occupying him, however, is someone entirely different." He stretched out a hand. "Gallagher Mungo, at your service."

She didn't take it. "How can this be?" she asked. _Not James,_ She thought. _He's not James._

James- no, Gallagher, twisted his arm out of her grasp and shrugged one shoulder. "Long story. To make it short, I died. Quite a while ago, I might add. I was the founder of St. Mungos Hospital. I'm not really a Saint, but that added a nice touch, don't you think? Anyhow, In order to escape the place that I was killed, in this case, the Hellhole, Voldemort's dungeon itself, I had to join with a person. Your husband, having been held there for a while, seemed likely. So I joined-" she noticed that he said 'joined' with a particular type of irony, "-with your husband, and we didn't have any immediate way of escaping so years passed. Finally, we got out, and we wandered around a bit before coming here." He sighed. "The point is, I've possessed him."

"Possessed him?" she said faintly, looking somewhere beyond what she was looking at, in a dazed way.

"Yes." He said slowly, along with a long nod.

"Well." She said in the same slow way. "Can you UN- possess him? He got you out, didn't he?"

Gallagher grimaced. "That was the plan, wasn't it? Well, after escaping, I realized almost immediately that that wouldn't' be possible. I had possess him for so long, that our minds became- how should I put this? Bonded. Not merged, but inseparable. Believe me, I tried, but I had been so long that I couldn't break loose. So what did I do? What anyone sensibly would do. I took over. I had hidden my Gringotts key, and I found it. I snuck in under a cloak and no one saw me. I had a considerable fortune from the hospital and I took it all. I have a nice life here. Don't worry 'bout your husband, he's fine."

Lily stood stiff, with a teeth-showing grimace on her face. "Let my husband go." She said softly.

"Sorry. Can't do that." He said firmly. "I'm really sorry you see, I understand completely but-"

She lunged. Cutting him off in the middle of the sentence, she knocked him over on the to floor vehemently. She wound her hands around his throat, choking him. "Let him GO!" she screamed hoarsely at him. _No one, I mean no one, is going to get between me and my HUSBAND! _She thought fiercely._ Not this Mungo jumbo guy, or anyone else._

"Ehgh-" he choked, and she started banged his head against the nice marble floor where his footsteps had echoed a moment before.

Crack! His head came down. She cussed incoherently "Oh, I'm tougher than I look!" she exclaimed. "I can kick your ass!" she continued, still smacking his head on the ground.

"Don't -ehgh!- kill me!" he wheezed out. "Argh- if you -ehgh- kill me you'll -ehgh- kill your husband -ehgh- too." He coughed.

Lily stopped. She sat on his chest looking down at him before walking out the door. "I'll be going now." She said in a distant voice.

"I knew you'd see the light!" He said, using the wall to get up. "I'm only telling you everything because I want to help you. You need money? Support? I'll help you out, but you have to give up on your husband. There really is no hope in trying. There is absolutely no way to dislodge me from you're husband's mind."

_No hope._ Lily repeated to herself forlornly. "No hope." She whispered.

"Funny, you're eyes looked just like your son's when you looked at me like that. Strange." He shook his head before starting to close the door.

Lily stopped it, and he looked out at her. "You've seen my son?" she asked, voice rising.

He nodded slowly. "Yes. He has the same big green eyes as you- bright, and sad-like."

She let out a breath slowly. "Where is he? Where can I find him? Where is my son?" she said in a rush.

He chewed on his lip, looking at her. "Well-" he stopped, just thinking. "I really can't say."

"You don't know?" she screeched. "How come?"

He continued chewing on his lip and giving her a weird look. "Well . . ."

"Spit it out." She ordered.

"Promise you won't attack me?" he asked.

She nodded. "I promise. Now where did you see Harry?"

"Harry." He said. "Nice name. Well, I can't say because I left him."

"Left him." She stated dangerously.

"I really didn't have a choice, he would have followed me."

"Of course he would have followed you. You're his father."

"Yeah, well, I left him alone- at Voldemort's dungeons. He's the reason I managed to escape, he got me out. Good kid. Real shame."

Lily was having trouble breathing. "You left my baby boy ALONE in the Dark Lord's DUNGEONS?"

"Well, yeah."

Lily growled, and Gallagher looked alarmed.

"I'm not sure where he went after that. I suppose you-"

Lily stopped the words from coming out of his mouth by starting to cry. Gallagher stood, slightly alarmed.

Falling to her knees, Lily bent over and cried. Sobs wracked her body, and her thin shoulders shook in grief. She put her hands over her face, feeling the presence of her once husband right behind her.

"You ruined it." She mumbled through her sobs. "It was going to be so perfect. Everything."

A hand touched her back.

"Get away from me." She ordered. "Go. Have your life."

The hand didn't leave. "No Lily." Came his voice.

She stopped, sniffling, to listen. Slowly she turned around to look into his eyes.

James smiled in a familiar way. "You know I never could stand to see you cry." He said.

Her eyes bugged. "You-"

He nodded. "Yes, me. I finally managed to fight him off."

She squealed, and hugged him fiercely. She was surprised to see tears in his eyes. "I fought." He said into her shoulder. "I fought as hard as I could but he wouldn't let me go."

"Where is he now?" she asked into his ear.

"He's still there, in the back of my head. Now I'm in control, he can't take over. His mistake was that, out of pity, and out of guilt, he let me see everything that was going on. Seeing you cry gave me the motivation to push him out. I'm in charge now." He repeated it. "I'm in charge. And I'm not giving him a damn inch. He can't see, or hear, or feel, or hurt anyone ever again."

She pushed back his head, and gave him a long, passionate kiss.

"I'm glad to have you back." He said to her, before giving her a long, scrutinizing look. "You haven't aged a day!"

This made her look really closely at him. His face a wrinkles that hadn't been there before, and his eyes . . .

She nodded. "You're right. I haven't. I would have come earlier, but I was trapped. In more ways than one. Trapped . . . timeless . . . in a place that wouldn't' let me age."

He didn't really understand, but he nodded anyway, having comprehended the basic idea.

She used the wall behind her to slide up, and then grabbed his hand to pull him up with her. "Come on!" she said. "Let's get out of this place." She used her sleeve to wipe her face dry. "I have so much to tell you, and there's someone you have to meet." He stopped to think. "Let's go to Hogwarts and see Dumbledore." She decided. "I need to catch up, and you probably do too. Then we'll go find Harry." Her smile faded at the thought of him. My little boy, she thought to herself. "Is it true? What Gallagher said about Harry?"

James nodded slowly. "I was so happy to see him . . . I had forgotten about Mungo, he had hidden so long that I didn't know he was still there. He took over, and I couldn't do anything about it. All these years . . ." he trailed off.

She hugged him again. "It's all over now. Come on we can talk as we go."

She pulled him outside, where she took one of his hands in each of her own, and looked him in the eye. "Promise not to freak out, and I'll explain on the way, okay?"

He looked slightly worried, but nodded.

Lily began humming, and their feet left the ground as the drifted upward. James jerked and gripped her hands. "Whoa!" A bit ways above, they went down a little and their feet came landed with a loud thunk on a solid black surface.

James stood a bit unsteady, and finally sat down.

"What IS this?" he asked, and did a double take. "You can fly!"

She laughed. "Wow, I've waited for that for a long time. I'll explain on the trip. First, James, I'd like you to meet my long time friend and traveling companion, Cortez." In front of them, a huge head suddenly lifted into the air. James's jaw dropped. "Cortez?" he repeated.

"Uh-huh!" she grinned. "He's a Roc."

"A Roc."

"Wow, I didn't think they had echoes up here- oh!" There was a flutter of feathers, and a small gryphon popped up behind them, and with a disgruntled look at having been forgotten and ignored, she plopped down. "And you know Fury."

"Yeah."

She leaned against his shoulder. Man, was she glad to have James back. And they were on their way. _We're coming, Harry,_ she thought.

"Well, I think everything sorta happened at Harry's baby shower, when . . ."

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry opened his eyes slowly- he could see clearly again, that was a good sign. He was surrounded by bed curtains- and white walls. He sighed. The infirmary at Hogwarts, he knew it all too well. He felt a shiver inside. It felt so good to be back, memories came flooding in of past- or future- times that he'd had. All the Quidditch games that had landed him here, the good ones, and the bad, when he had lost and his broom had been broken- and then there were the times that he had woken up here wishing that he were dead. And that he could go back and change it all, make it better. He mentally repeated himself- _'go back and change it'_. He smiled.

" . . . really odd." Dumbledore's voice came tumbling into the room.

Madam Pomfrey came bustling by. Even though he had been expecting her, seeing her was still a bit of a surprise. "Madam Pomfrey!" he exclaimed.

She froze in her tracks and Harry almost smacked himself. He was going to tell them who he was, of course, but even so, the last time he had been here he was about a month old. And there was a snowball's chance in hell that he could explain away his knowledge that he REMEMBERED. He opted for not telling them, or just breezing around the subject.

That might be interesting.

Madam Pomfrey stepped back, out of her stupor, and nodded. "I'll get the Headmaster." She scurried off.

Harry lay back down on his pillow, relishing the mattress. _Ah well. Here we go._

* * *

Snape's POV 

Snape, Dumbledore, Remus, and the other professors stood around outside the infirmary, waiting for Madam Pomfrey signal that their young friend had woken up. They had spent hours trying spells and potions to open up the cage, to no avail. Finally a strange combination had worked, and the thing had cracked. The young elf was slightly bruised, and asleep to they had brought him to the infirmary for the time being. In conclusion, everyone in the castle knew of his presence.

Madam Pomfrey came scurrying up, as usual. She squeezed in and said softly. "He's awake. He recognized me immediately and called me by my name." She seemed a little frightened.

"Let's go in." Dumbledore said, and he motioned for several of the others to follow him, including Minerva, Snape, and Lupin.

The prisoner sat in his bed, looking at them. Just the way his eyes, and the way he looked at them seemed so FAMILIAR now that he was awake.

Dumbledore sat on his bed, and the others pulled up chairs. "Hello." Dumbledore said.

"Hello." He gave them a smile.

"I'm Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Have you heard of it?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

Another smile. "I am known as Raven." His voice was definitely recognizable as the one that they had heard in the marketplace. It had a really distinct accent, melodious and lilting, that could be recognized anywhere. Elfish, Snape supposed.

The blood in Severus's veins trickled to a stop. Or so it seemed. _Raven . . . _the name that he had called his one time son. _How strange that is would pop up here. It's that common of a name, after all._

Dumbledore nodded again. "So where are you from? Where do your elfkind come from?"

The young elf looked at them. "I'm not an elf. The dwarves mistook me as an elf, I really am human."

Realization dawned in their eyes. "Oh!" Dumbledore said. "You knew all our names- are you a student here?"

He shook his head.

"Where are your parents?"

"I don't know. I do know, however," He looked up at them. "That my real name is Harry Potter." He bit his lip and waiting for them to react.

"It can't be!" Snape burst out. The other's jaws dropped. _Harry Potter, known, as the name he had given him, Raven- it was too much to think about._ "No. You can't be Harry Potter. Harry Potter would be eleven years old. How old are you? Nine?"

"No." He drew up to his full height. "I'm eleven. I look young for my age is all."

They were all looking at him, speculating to themselves.

"He looks remarkably like James at the age . . . "

"Those eyes . . ."

". . .just smaller, if that's possible."

"He has the same eyes as Lily."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Minerva interrupted their mutterings. They look at her, and she opened her eyes wide in asurprised expression.

They didn't get it.

She sighed. "What is Harry Potter most known for?"

Snape blinked. "His scar!"

"The scar!"

"Yes!" Minerva said, gesturing toward the boy.

He shrugged, and shoved his short curling locks off his forehead, showing a thin jagged scar that went down his forehead.

"Wow."

"It's true."

"He IS Harry Potter."

"Harry?" said Remus, who was looking a little tearful. "We've been looking for you for AGES."

Dumbledore nudged Minerva. "Curiosity, eh? All for an ELF, did you say?" Minerva gave him a disapproving look.

He turned back to Harry. "Harry, do you know where your parents are?"

Harry closed his eyes. Slowly, he shook his head. "No."

There was silence. "Neither do we." Dumbledore said quietly. The cheerful mood in the infirmary left.

"There's nothing that we can do about that, not right now. We're still looking . . . there may still be hope. I'm just glad that we got you back." Remus pulled the boy into a hug, and Harry hugged back, grinning. Snape felt a tinge of jealousy. _I have no rights to him, _he thought. _I was only pretending to be his father, and I didn't even want to._

_But he said that he was known as Raven. He carried on the name from when he was my son, to wherever he went . . ._

And too the surprise of the others, Snape smiled as he looked over the relieved staff.

_I'm still jealous though._

_Argh._

Still, none of them knew of the connection between his Raven and Harry Potter. To them, they were two completely different people. Only few knew that Harry had been in hiding as his son. Also, none knew that the banshee that had attacked him had been Lily. She had never been recognized, not by a single one of them. They ignored that his name had been Raven.

_Stupid people._

* * *

Lily's POV 

"So, lemme get this straight, you gave Harry to SNAPE, and he lost him. Oh yeah, and you found out your some kind of banshee-faerie-elf mix."

"Yes."

"SNAPE?"

"Not my best moment, but I was under pressure. Besides, it was out of his control. He probably did a fairly good job of bringing him back to Hogwarts."

James shook his head. "Look! There it is!" He pointed off through the clouds.

Mist was wafting mysteriously around the tall towers, and the sunset was reflecting off the lake. Hogwarts was bigger than either of them remembered. It was a gorgeous sight.

"We'd make a fortune in the Calendar making business . . ." James murmured as Cortez started swooping down.

They landed in the Quidditch field, Cortez squeezing in between the towers. They slid off, and Fury followed, as the huge roc took back to the skies, disappearing in the clouds. They watched him go.

"Will he come back?" James asked.

Lily shrugged. "He's usually around somewhere, he won't go far. If I need him I could always call for him."

They went up the path that led to the Great Hall. Lily turning her head to him as they walked. "Are there classes going on? She asked. "Exactly how much time has passed?"

James thought about it for a couple seconds. "Well, I'm pretty sure that term was out a couple days ago, there was a pair of kids that came home for the summer down the street from where Gallagher lived. So only the staff should be here, unless they left. And I know that the staff usually stays, most of it anyway. At least for a while. And time . . ." He sighed. "Eleven long years. Harry will be twelve this summer."

She stayed silent. Eleven long years . . . She couldn't think of anything to say.

They got to the front doors of the Great Hall. James knocked.

"Come on in!" came Dumbledore's voice. Holding hands, they entered. Lily wearing her thawed rags and James nicely dress in Gallagher's crisp, casual clothes.

The remaining professors were sitting around the table, eating dinner. As the two came through the door, jaws all dropped, along with utensils, plates and goblets.

Remus, along with a couple other werewolves had commandeered part of the table. They looked on as the last two people they ever expected entered the room.

Silence.

Dumbledore stood up, pushing has chair back and drawing up to his full height. He looked at them for a full minute.

"Glad to have you back." He said finally.

As if that had signaled something, pandemonium started along with a major hugging fest (which Severus artfully withdrew from) and all anyone could do was say how happy they were to see them again.

"We looked for you the whole time!"

"No trace! As if you had disappeared!"

"I can't believe after all these years you just com walking through the door."

"Lily! You haven't aged a day!" ("Why THANK you, Professor Flitwick.")

"Oh, wow, Sirius is out on another lead to find you guys. He's going to be so pissed to have missed you coming in."

"Would you like to sit down and eat?"

Lily shook her head at the Headmaster's offer. "Not right away. I'd like to get cleaned up, maybe eat a bit." She stopped. "As soon as possible we'll be off. We have got to find Harry." James nodded.

Silence. The staff members looked at each other, giving strange glances out of the corners of their eyes.

"What?" Lily asked, voice rising. "What are you not telling us?"

As no one said anything, Lily became more frantic. "What's happened?"

Dumbledore stood up. "No, nothing's wrong. It's just we though you knew."

"Knew what?" James asked.

Dumbledore smiled. "Harry's here. I thought that's why you came."

"Harry's HERE?" Lily asked, eyes bugging.

Dumbledore nodded. "I'm afraid so."

James hugged Lily into his side. She was speechless, and her face was slowly turning red. "Where is he?" he asked.

Madam Pomfrey stood up. "He already fell asleep, he has an odd habit of waking up really early. I'll take you to him, at the moment we placed him in the infirmary." Seeing Lily's alarmed look, she held up a calming hand. "For loss of anywhere else to put him."

They walked up together, through all the trick steps and hidden hallways. Lily could remember every single detail.

At the door of the infirmary, madam Pomfrey stopped to let them by. "He's over there." She pointed to the farthest bed and then left them. The walk across the room couldn't have seemed to take longer- every step took a minute and every minute seemed like an hour. Lily clenched her fist around James's hand, but he didn't complain. Silently, they approached the closed curtains. Lily reached out and pushed them aside. Neither breathed.

They couldn't see anything but a small sleeping form, back to them, and a full head of pitch-black curls. A soft sigh escaped Lily's lips. Even though she knew that time had passed, until this moment, in her heart she had still believed that she should find the same little baby that she had lift behind. _Don't be ridiculous! _She reprimanded herself. They walked around the bed and sat on the other side, pulling aside the blanket and looking down at their son.

There was a light soaring feeling in Lily's chest, and her head felt detached from her shoulders. Every breath echoed in her ears. _Oh my God._ He looked so much like James, but then she was there too, in the slanted eyes and the loopy curls. _He has the inhuman looks that I recognize, _Lily realized. He looked slightly elven, and he had the same gracefully sloping nose as she and all the other faeries had. He slept on, not realizing their presence.

Pulling up chairs, they watching his chest rise and fall until dozing off themselves.

* * *

Harry's POV 

It was very early when he awoke, he was still used to training time with the elves. The room was dark, but in the darkness he could see two dark still forms next to his bed, but he couldn't see who they were. _Why would anyone be next to my BED? _He thought tiredly.

Getting out of the other side of the four-poster instead, he padded quietly out of the room, and when down to get breakfast from the house elves, who were up early anyway. Grabbing some oranges, he went off to stroll around the school.

* * *

Lily's POV 

Exhausted, the two had slept well, and they woke up some time later. Opening her eyes to an empty bed, Lily told herself that nothing was wrong. Getting up, she shook James awake.

"Eh?"

"James, Harry is gone."

James sat up, looking around. "It's late, he probably got up already. He wouldn't know who we are."

Lily didn't answer. _My son doesn't know who I am . . . _she knew that, but saying it was still depressing.

"Let's go look for him." James said, and she nodded, following him out of the infirmary into one of the stone corridors. They went in the direction of the Great Hall, peering around every once and a while, but there was no sign of Harry. Could something had happened to him? Where was he, where could he have gone?

As they passed the trophy room, they heard footsteps echoing. Peering in, they again met the back of Harry's head. Lily glanced at James, and they shared a special moment before she spoke out.

"Harry."

He turned around, eyes wide. He has my eyes, Lily thought. Bright green and slanted. He was standing in front two large windows, the sun shining though in actual rays. You could see the dust particle swirling lazily about in the air and the shine of the rich wood. The various cups and medals took on the glow, and sent sparkling dots all over the walls.

He stepped forward, looking at them. His eyes brightened when he saw them, and Lily had the strange feeling he recognized them. He couldn't . . . well, he always had been an odd child, not crying and such, but . . . must be some sort of instinct.

"Harry." She said, pushing the words hoarsely out of her throat. She cleared it and started again, clearly. "Harry, we're you're parents."

He just looked at them, not saying anything.

"We've been looking for you for a long time. We're so glad." She closed her eyes temporarily. "To finally have you back."

They waited anxiously for him to react. Slowly, he smiled. Then he nodded. "I've been looking for you too." He said, in a curious accent they couldn't figure out. "I was wondering where you had gotten to."

Lily burst into tears, and he came forward. She bent over and pulled him into an embrace, and James over that, just standing, as a family. The lights danced against Lily's eyes, and she closed them, squeezing out tears. "So glad to have you back." She repeated softly in his ear.

Someone stepped out from the shadows, where the light didn't quite reach. Still, they should have seen him before . . . standing straight, all three turned their attention to Albus Dumbledore.

Albus beamed at them. "I am extremely happy for you. And I propose that since term is over, you spend the summer together getting settled, and at the end of the summer, Harry will be invited to attend Hogwarts. What do you say?" He looked over them. "He's missed a year, but-"

"I can do it." Harry cut in. "I'll be fine."

Albus turned to Lily and James. "How about you two?"

They looked at each other. Lily slung an arm about her soon and James nodded. "We can't keep him locked up in the house, can we? That sounds good. No place will be safer for him than Hogwarts."

"As long as he come back during Christmas break!" Lily joined in, and laughed.

"Come along then. We have a lot to talk about. I'm sure you're not quite up to date in certain- events." He looked at Harry, and Harry knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I'm sure you're right." Burying her face in Harry's hair, Lily said. "You're going to LOVE Hogwarts."


	26. Return to What He Knew

What He Never Had

By Jezaray

Chapter Twenty-Five: Return to What He Knew

Harry's POV

Harry rolled lazily over in his soft cushions, stretching his arms and closing his eyes to the harsh sunlight. Despite his irritation at the light, he grinned. He was home, he had new clothes, his parents were alive and they loved him. They had taken the news of their son being the savior of the Wizarding world pretty well, all things considering. Lily had only fainted once, even if she had stayed knocked out for about three hours. He flopped over, falling out of his bed with a thump and fought against his tangled blankets. The media had caught attention of his family's return, and they had swarmed all about their castle- yes, castle, but they hadn't gotten in.

The younger Harry in him, the part that hadn't let him leave the elves didn't seem very dominant anymore. Harry didn't realize how differently he had been thinking until a while ago, when he arrived at home and got settled in. This was his element, even though he still felt a bit cowed by it all. All the years living with only the elves had left deep traces in him. He would stay up late into the night, sunlight bothered him a bit, and he was told he had a strong accent. Also, his inner instinct told him to fight, and he kept in shape and kept his reflexes sharp with a few simple exercises.

Harry finally managed to detangle himself and started pulling on clothes. He had been reliving his life for . . . twelve years now. Should he be older? Strange, he didn't feel any older than he did when he was fifteen. But those weren't the main reasons that he was grinning.

Today was his birthday.

He had moved into the room that his parents had chosen for him, it was his favorite, at the top of a round tower that strongly reminded him of Gryffindor tower. It took millions of steps to just get to the first floor, but, of course, there were shortcuts. He grinned, stepping out of the door, and step jogged the first three steps backwards. There was a dropping feeling in his stomach, and the steps flew by under him, the walls whirling. There was a pop, and he appeared near the ceiling of their large living room, falling down and landing with a thump on a correctly positioned couch. His dad had insisted trying it out first, and then they hadn't had the couch correctly placed . . . Harry winced. Bouncing back up, he walked into the kitchen, where his mother was arguing with a house elf.

"Good morning Mum." They stopped when he entered, and his mother turned and gave his a hug. "Happy Birthday Harry!" she said happily. She was ecstatic to have her whole family back together. James, who had been sitting at the table reading the Daily Prophet, stood up.

He gave his son a hug as well. "Happy Twelfth." He said, and motioned to the paper. "More about you today." He chuckled. "There's a Harry Potter Birthday Parade in Diagon Alley . . ." he broke out laughing. James had taken the news better than his wife; on the contrary, he found it amusing. Harry then caught site of a huge pile of presents in the corner. His mouth dropped.

"Whoa!"

His father laughed. There was a flap of feathers, and Harry stopped to grin wider. A tawny colored school owl settled on the windowsill, dropping a letter, and gave a hoot before vanishing behind the half closed curtains again.

Harry snatched it up, remembering the thick parchment and the green ink, he turned it over in his hands a opened it. He read it over. It was the usual letter from Professor McGonagall, with a list of schoolbooks and supplies. He realized with a jolt that Lockhart's books weren't on the list. Harry rejoiced inwardly. _How many things, exactly, have I changed?_ Harry had some bad memories from his second year; surely most of them had been evaded. Maybe he could make this year relatively normal, knowing anything that might happen. He passed the letter on to his parents.

Lily hugged him again as James looked through it. "Standard book of spells, Grade two . . .Useful Charms Magick, by Duff Lee Bohring . . .school uniform, he still needs a wand . . ." He scanned the rest. "Hmm. We'll go to Diagon Alley later, maybe get you a few more presents. But." He said, looking up. "We'll have to wait until later, when the parade is over." Chuckling, he shook his head and passed the letter back.

Later, still Harry's POV

The three of them stood in front of the enormous fireplace, James holding the vase of floo powder. Lily held out some black cloaks. "Lots of people don't want to be seen in Diagon Alley, so we'll blend right in. We don't really want to be recognized, I don't feel like being swamped for autographs again." She frowned. The last couple times they had attempted to go to a public wizarding place hadn't gone well.

They pulled on the black cloaks, and looked in the large mirror over the opposite sofa. Harry raised an eyebrow. They looked dreadful suspicious, but he agreed that they would probably fit right in.

"Now Harry, you throw in the floo power, and step in. Say Leaky Cauldron really clearly." His father demonstrated, and Lily motioned for him to go next. Stepping in, Harry said, "Leaky Cauldron." His mother's face disappeared, and a whirl of fireplaces went by, faster and faster. Harry squeezed his eyes shut, standing as straight as he could. His elbow was hit roughly, and he tucked in tighter before coming to a stop. The loss of momentum swung him forward, and he stepped out, catching himself.

The Leaky Cauldron goers kept to themselves, peering curiously out of the corner of their eyes at them. Harry pulled his cloak further over his head to be more covered in shadow. Lily appeared after him, stepping with ease out of the fireplace and shaking the soot off. Together they started for the brick wall, passing Tom at his counter. He leaned over, attempting to start a conversation.

"Great parade earlier, eh?" he said, and Harry almost ran into his parents as they stopped to talk.

His father shrugged, and said in a voice slightly gruffer than usual. "We didn't go."

Tom's eyes squinted as his brain whirred. His thoughts were clear on his face- what kind of people dismissed Harry Potter like that and wore black cloaks? Deatheater supporters, that's who. Then he nodded. "I actually didn't go out myself, but it was great business. Everyone stopping through here." He started washing the countertop. "Just Diagon Alley for you today?"

James nodded, and Tom smiled, dismissing them by turning to get water.

Outside, the stopped in front of the large brick wall. James gave a brief undertone instruction on how to open it, tapping. The bricks moved apart, and Harry gazed in. It was just as wonderful as ever, bright, bustling, wares and storefronts and all manners of strange people.

Smiling under his cloak, he let his mother pull him along. They passed Gringotts. "That's the wizarding bank, Gringotts." Harry's father said, pointing slightly. "We'll go there another time, we already have money so we can go straight and get your robes." They strolled into Madam Malkins.

The store was empty; Madam Malkin sat reading an outdated version of Witch Weekly. She looked up as they walked in front of her, and stood, tossing the magazine to the side. "Well, there you are. Customers. Everybody's left after this morning, I haven't gotten many people in here, they all came before. Step right here." She motioned, and Harry stepped up, taking off his hood. Madam Malkin didn't recognize him she simply went on. " Hogwarts?"

"Yes ma'am." He said, and she measured him, quickly put together all his clothes, and packing it up. James paid for it, and they left without another glance in their direction.

"Where to now?" Harry asked, and Dad pulled the letter out, looking at it. "Let's go to Flourish and Blotts for your books, then Ollivanders. Then we'll see." Lily gave her husband a stern look that Harry couldn't decipher, barely peeking out from underneath her cloak.

Flourish and Blotts was just down the street, and Harry entered cautiously peeking around. There store was crowded, it was hard to see anything- and then he got a glance of a mouth of pearly with teeth and a laugh that was just all too familiar. Harry cringed.

He edged around the sign, "Gilderoy Lockhart, will be signing copies of his autobiography, Magical Me, today 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm." He almost tripped over it and his hood just barely stayed on; he pulled it tighter around himself. His father leaned down, catching his shoulder.

"We can't get around in this mayhem." He said loudly over the noise. "Just wait here, and your mother and I will split up and get your books. Back in a minute, DON'T MOVE." He orders and shoved his way through. Harry was shoved roughly, and he edged behind the sign, watching the crowd swirling around. A loud voice emerged from the chaos, and he immediately recognized it.

"It's Gilderoy Lockhart!" It was Mrs. Weasley! He turned around, craning his neck. The heads of bright red hair stood out even in this kind of crowd. Harry smiled to himself.

Ron was there, Ginny, looking apprehensive, Percy, Fred and George, and Arthur. They stood, peering over heads. "It's lucky we didn't come this morning, because of the parade. We might have missed Lockhart!"

Harry stepped around the sign, and stopped. They wouldn't recognize him yet . . . they had never met. And his father had told him to stay there . . . Someone brushed by, and Harry's skin crawled in recognition.

Draco Malfoy and his father Lucius stopped in front of the Weasleys. Lucius was casually holding a very familiar book in his left hand. Everything was about to reenact in front of him, with or without him being part of the picture. In a silky undertone, they started talking, and only snatches were understandable.

Harry stepped forward, and walked discreetly closer.

". . .All those raids. I hope they're paying you overtime . . ." Cunningly, Lucius's hand snuck out and reached for Ginny's cauldron.

Rushing up, Harry stepped between, as if in a hurry. Mr. Malfoy stumbled, hand knocked out of the air.

"Sorry." Harry murmured and continued. The Weasleys laughed as Lucius barely caught his balance, grabbing on to his son, undignified for once. The Weasleys were beside themselves with laughter, and Lucius looked livid. He looked after Harry, but Harry had already snuck around and taken up his position next to the sign. Draco simply looked alarmed, and he edged away as his father let go of his sleeve.

Harry got a shock when someone touched his shoulder, but when he turned around it was only his parents, laden down with schoolbooks. "Come on, let's go get these paid for." The pushed passed the long winding line and paid. Harry wasn't aware that the Weasleys were right behind them until they got outside, and their boisterous voice boomed down the side of the alley.

Hearing talk of the Malfoy and the situation behind him, James couldn't resist turning around. "What was that? Sorry, I couldn't help over hearing about Malfoy."

The twins started on about the look on his face at being run into. James laughed. "Who ran into him?"

Harry could feel himself turning red, and he inched behind his mother. They were talking about him.

"Oh, some little guy in a dark cloak- him!" they had spotted him "Oh, sorry." Fred- or George said, realizing what they had called him. Arthur Weasley stepped forward, extending a hand.

"Arthur Weasley." He introduced himself.

James laughed, having of course recognized them, they had known each other, and had met again at Harry's Baby shower. He shook his hand, and pulled him behind a large sign that said "Free Gulpin Gator Ice Cream!" and picture that was less appetizing than the name. The others followed, and James took off his hood. "James Potter." He said, and their jaws dropped. Mrs. Weasley leapt forward and gave him a hug. "When you disappeared, we were beside ourselves with worry!" she exclaimed. Lily took off her hood with a flourish, which started a whole other hug fest.

"Who's this?" Mrs. Weasley said questioningly with a familiar twinkle in her eye.

Harry took off his hood as his mother gave him a reprimanding look. "I thought we told you to stay by the Gilderoy Lockhart sign!"

Harry looked sheepish. Ron and his brothers were looking at him in surprise. "Wow, it's Harry Potter." They sounded impressed.

Harry extended a hand. "Nice to meet you." One by one they shook it, and Harry was reminded of a time when Fred and George had shaken his hand, and found it ridiculously hilarious . . .

Ron tugged insistently at his mother's sleeve. "Mum!" he said.

"Yes Dear?"

"You mean to say-" Fred or George said.

"That you know the Potters, all this time, and you never told us?" Said George or Fred.

"And you never told us?" repeated Fred or George.

"Well." Mrs. Weasley said. "They were after our time at Hogwarts, but we met through mutual friends. You were all at Harry's baby shower."

"Cool."

Harry was feeling slightly uncomfortable. They were treating him differently, not really talking directly at him.

"Harry's going to Hogwarts this year." Lily said, and Mrs. Weasley struck up a conversation with her.

"Hey Harry." James turned to him. "Here's some money, how about you get your wand, just walk in." James cave him some galleons, and Harry nodded, going off while pulling his hood over his head.

Going down the street, he went into Ollivanders, which they had passed before. Walking in, her breathed in the familiar old scent. It was quiet and finally someone stirred, and Mr. Ollivander came walking out of the stacks of boxes. Harry pulled off his hood.

Ollivander looked at him. "Harry Potter . . ." He simply nodded. Handing Harry a wand, without questioning Harry swung it though the air to no response.

Several minutes later, they were still going through boxes upon boxes, and Harry was becoming impatient. He wanted to get back to his parents while he could still talk to the Weasleys. As Mr. Ollivander grumbled to himself among the boxes, Harry called out, "How about something with Holly? Phoenix feather?"

Mr. Ollivander turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, it is the wand that chooses the wizard."

Harry nodded. " I know."

"If you think so." He looked under a couple boxes. "Oh look, there's one with holly AND phoenix feather." He pulled out the box and opened it, holding it out to Harry. Harry reached in and pulled out a very familiar looking wand. Lifting it up, an array of multi silver sparks fluttered down over the table.

"Huh." Mr. Ollivander said uncharacteristically, picking up the box. "Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches." His eyes glazed over. "I remember this wand . . ."

"Well-" Harry said, reaching in and pulling out his gold. "Thank you." He paid for the wand, and took the box.

"Harry . . ." Mr. Ollivander narrowed his eyes slightly. "How did you know this wand would choose you?" Shaking his head before getting an answer, he continues. "Lucky guess. But still very curious." His voice took on a different tone, and Harry understood the double meaning behind the words. "Very curious."

Harry didn't ask, simply walking out and striding down the street to the Gulpin Gator sign. His parents were there alone, and he felt a twinge of disappointment. He walked up to him, holding up the wand in one hand.

"All we need is potions and transfiguration supplies." Lily said.

James grabbed Harry's sleeve and gave her puppy dog eyes. "Why don't you go get those, and we'll meet you at Quality Quidditch Supplies?"

Lily sighed, defeated. "Fine."

James grinned, and grabbed a handful of galleons, pressing them into Harry fist. "Spending money." He said with a laugh, and within seconds all packages and bags and been laden onto Lily, and the two were halfway down the street.

The door to Quality Quidditch Supplies came open with the sound of a bell that wasn't there, and James pulled Harry through, and they started walking down the aisles. Several books caught Harry's attention, and he picked them up. James yanked on his robe and pulled him farther, behind the glass storefront window. He gestured.

"Look Harry. The newest broom, the Nimbus 2001." It was shiny and beautiful, sleek body and even twigs. "Barely out . . . last Sunday, or something like that." They stood looking at it. "Want it?" James said abruptly.

Harry blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, well, I'll get to use it, but I'll definitely buy it for you. Birthday present. I said we'd get more, right?"

Harry hesitated, but his need to fly again overwhelmed his feeling of not wanted to take advantage of his parents' enthusiasm. Grabbing one of the few Nimbus 2001s, the books Harry had chosen along with some broom care products on the way James got in the sales line, which wound all the way back to the store. "You can look around while I wait." James said. "Just don't stray too far."

Harry nodded, walking back through the handle polish aisle. His parents were obviously spoiling him . . . which might have bothered him a bit, but he was so glad to HAVE parents to spoil him, and give him a birthday.

Harry smiled as he ran a hand down the cool metal shelves. It was, in truth the one thing he had always wanted but never could have had. And here he was, his dream come true.

Harry leaned against the window, looking out across the street at a small grungy sign, 'Edel Eamon's Exoticites'. Harry blinked. Exoticities? What that even a word? Something about the store intrigued him. Harry looked back. James was still at the very end of the queue. Making up his mind, he slipped though the ringing door and walked across the street stepping between people. The front door was closed, but Harry found it open as he pushed his way inside.

The interior was dark, all shelves crude and a bland wood color. Tables went all around the room, and as they exhibited their contents. Harry felt that maybe the store would have better belonged in Knockturn Alley. The room had a mysterious, yet familiar air to it. The floor was bare, and he couldn't see any back door. There was no shopkeeper, so Harry went around the room, not touching.

Light glanced off metal in the corner of Harry's eye, and he looked over to see what it was. It was finely crafted light elven armor, with twists of leather through lacings. He recognized it as some of the older warriors carried some from time to time.

"I see that you've found our elfish section." The voice was so loud and sudden in the still shop that Harry jumped, looking up. A store cleak had suddenly appeared, with creepy eyes that studied Harry intensely from a wrinkled, scarred face.

"Er, yeah." Harry said.

"This is all hand crafted by the elves, traded for something or another. That's what I do, trade. We have giants wares-" he motioned to the other corner where a giant's dagger stood on display. "And more." He stopped speculatively, looking at Harry. "I get all sorts of strange folk in here." He said. "You don't like to show your face, do you." He stated abruptly.

Harry shook his head in agreement.

"I'm Edel." The man held out his hand. "Edel Eamon, at your service. This is my shop, have a look around. You look interested in elfish items, do ye have any experience with them?"

"Kind of." Harry said, turning back. He found an amazing set of perfectly honed knives, sharp, out of elven steel. Harry picked one up, and flipped it expertly, catching it at the handle. The shopkeeper looked impressed. Harry unfurled his fist, looking in where James had placed the gold galleons. 'Spending money' James had said. Harry stood undecided, looking down at the money.

Harry closed his fist and walked further, glancing along the tables. He came along a beautiful clear stone. It was large, the size of Harry's fist, roughly hewn and irregular. Some spots were slightly milky, the rest completely translucent. Harry picked it up, feeling it's weight.

"An Irenuale stone." The shopkeeper said. "Also elfish. I wasn't sure what it's worth, but the elves but great importance in it. Nobody wants it because it doesn't DO anything."

Harry nodded and walking back. Picking up a leather bag, which was flipped over displaying the set of elven knives strapped to the inside in attached sheaths. "I'll take this." He said, inspecting it. Everything was in good condition, and he gave the shopkeeper a galleon. Edel gave him some knuts and Harry ran his fingers over the familiar textures before sliding the bag over his shoulder and tucking into his cloak.

Edel shook his hand. "Good luck." He said, looking at Harry. "I'll tell you what. I'll throw in the Irenuale for free, as you've been the only customer in here all day. What do you say?"

Harry shrugged and nodded. It was important to the elves- it probably wasn't wise to turn it down. He picked up the stone and slipped it into the knife bag. Harry looked up, seeing his father outside the window on the other side of the street, looking around confused. Nodding to Edel, Harry rushed out the door and slipped into the shop behind his father, walking up. "Dad!"

James turned around, looking relieved. "If I had lost you, you mother would kill me." He gave Harry an evil look, and Harry grinned impishly back. "You're too mischievous for your own good." This made Harry laugh, knowing a bit about his father when HE had been in Hogwarts. Together they walked out the door, almost running into Lily, carrying even more packages then before, which were promptly dumped on them.

"I ran into Minerva McGonagall." Lily frowned. "I asked, and she said that no gryphons were allowed at the school."

"Oh." Harry said.

"How about an owl, for Harry so that he can owl us?" James said from under a pewter cauldron. He clung to Harry's new broom, intent on holding it.

"That's a great idea!" Lily beamed. "The Magical Menagerie is down that way . . ."

"Wouldn't Eeylops Owl Emporium be closer?" Harry said quickly, remembering Hedwig. Would she still be there, after a year? Might she still be at the Emporium? Right now he would give almost anything to see Hedwig, who had always been there no matter what happened to him.

"That may be." Lily said, and they went in the opposite direction down the alley. The three hooded figures walked down and entered the popular owlry. Harry looked around, scanning the cages for a familiar face. He walked down all the aisles, peeking into every enclosure and looking back onto every perch. There were no completely white owls at all, and by the time he had reached the last cage, Harry felt like he had lost his best friend, which he practically had. Edging up on the saleswitch, Harry touched her shoulder.

"Do you have an snowy white owls?" he asked.

The saleswitch turned to him, and shook her head. "I'm sorry no, we don't get many snowy owls, and they don't stay long. We have black ones, perhaps you would be interested in one of those?"

Harry shook his head dejesctedly. "No thank you."

He felt a hand come down on his shoulder. His was his father, who had been watching him all the while. "You really had your heart set on a snowy owl, didn't you?"

Harry nodded his head. "No, not a snowy owl, THE snowy owl."

His dad seemed a bit confused, but Lily seemed to think she understood. "I know what you mean, I had a cat like that when I was younger. So nothing here for you? Why don't we go to the Magical Menagerie and see if we find anything?"

Harry nodded. "Ok, thanks." Miserably, he walked down the street, following his parents to the Magical Menagerie. He didn't really feel like getting anything. Walking in, they looked around everywhere, there were rats, toads, more owls, cats ("Why don't you get a cat, Harry, cats are sensible." said Lily). Harry shook his head.

"I have an idea!" said James.

Harry felt slightly guilty fro making them run around, they just wanted to please him. "How about we transform Fury into a cat?" James said.

Harry grinned. "That would be nice . . ." he trailed off.

Lily sighed, and her shoulders sagged. "Fine." Then she gave a playful smirk as well. "They never said anything about gryphons transformed into cats, did they?"

* * *

Hours later

Harry sat on his new trunk, complete with golden initials shining in the dark wood. They were all sprawled in the living room, as Harry's birthday drew to a close. All his presents had been brought upstairs, and remembering his knife collection he slipped it under his mattress. His parents probably would react strangely to him with knives . . . Harry desperately wanted them he wasn't quite sure why. There was something secure and comfortable about having an elven knife hidden somewhere on you.

And why wasn't he telling his parents about him being a time traveler? What was the point? He'd had to talk himself out of it several times, and he still didn't know much of what was going on. He might, eventually, but it didn't feel like the time. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy their company.

The doorbell rang, and Harry jumped up to go see. He opened the door a crack, and peeked out, laughing when he saw whom it was. Sirius and Samantha stood on the doorstep, hand in hand, with gifts in (other) hand. "Harry!" Sirius kicked in the door, and it slammed loudly against the wall.

"Sirius!" James yelled from the other room. "I know that's you!"

"Not my fault! I don't have any hands free."

"Yeah, that's only because he's got the other-" A hand came over his mouth, stopping him from going on. Harry 'humphed'and then bit.

"Harry!" Sirius said, letting go. Samantha laughed, and Harry quickly apologized. They walked into the other room, Harry jumping excitedly on their heels. Sirius had visited a couple of times during the months he had stayed with his parents, from the joyful reunion . . . Harry was happy to see his godfather the way that he once was, full of light and humor. He didn't have that heavy past lying on his shoulders, the dark eyes and the lank hair. The way that he should have been, since now he was obviously never accused of killing Harry's parents. Peter was a known traitor this time, and he couldn't venture into public places, there were orders to attack on sight. There had been several sightings of him, and there was a search in progress but no great progress had been made, yet.

"What do you have for me?" Harry nagged, bouncing.

Sirius pointedly ignored him and turned to Lily and James. "Nadine couldn't come, but she sent a card, and some sweets from Honeydukes." He passed them over, then turned to Harry. "So what did you do today Harry?"

Harry sat down on the floor as Sirius sat down next to his parents. "I got my Hogwarts letter, and we went to Diagon Alley by floo." He said.

Samantha smiled. "I knew that you'd be getting that sometime soon. Hey, you're one of us Potters. Of course you've got one."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Did you get an animal, an owl or something?"

Harry's spirits fell as he as reminded of Hedwig. "No." he said sadly, and his parents exchanged glances.

"I was hoping you hadn't." Sirius said jumping up and going into the next room. Harry watched curiously. What?

Sirius came hurrying by in, carefully carrying a large cage. He held it up. "I got him from a friend who did want him anymore." Sirius explained. "Only got him last year, and they didn't get along very well." He looked at Harry for a reaction.

Harry's face broke back into joy. Quietly he reached out to open the cage. "This is the most wonderful gift you could ever have given me." he said, and then added. "And Hedwig's she's a her, not a him." Hedwig flew right to his shoulder and they left the room.

Voices trailed after him. "How did you know he wanted a snowy owl?"

"He did?" Sirius said, surprised.

Harry sat on his bed with his legs folded underneath himself, stoking Hedwig's feathers. She looked at him with large amber eyes, sitting on his arm.

"She's a very intelligent owl." Came a familiar voice from behind him. "I believe she remembers you."

He turned around. Camellia stood in the doorway, looking at him with a smile. He smiled back. "Is that possible?"

She nodded. "Sometimes. Some animals are just naturally tuned into time travel and such things. Owls more than most."

Harry looked at Hedwig. She ruffled her feathers and inched along his arm. "I think you're right." He said.

Camellia came in and sat down next to him. For a moment they didn't talk. "So you came." He said. "Am I going back to my time? Did I do what I came here to do?"

He looked at her. Slowly, Camellia shook her head. "When you first came here, nothing had changed and the future was still the same. You've done everything you could, and changed what was to happen. But you'll never go back to where you were, what you refer to as 'your time' is gone. All the changes that we made by going back in time rewrote history, so your time doesn't exist anymore. You'll have to completely relive your life, but in your case that might be a good thing."

Harry let this sink so. "So I'll be in this body forever? I'll never go back to the body that I came from?"

Camellia nodded. "Well, you never really had two bodies. It's the same body, just younger. It's just the time that is different. And you've managed to save your parents, and change the course of events that could lead to Voldemort winning the war. That doesn't mean." She said, giving him a pointed look. "That everything is secure. It means that everything is undecided, and we have a chance. We're fighting all we can against the Dark Lord. It's our job."

"Who's job?" Harry asked.

"The First, and the rest of the thirteen. In times like these we use what we can to our advantage. Our people have been doing it for centuries." Her eyes twinkled. "You're like one of us now, after all you've done."

Harry hesitated. "Should I tell my parents?"

She shook her head. "No. It's one of our rules; time manipulation and our other actions are not revealed to anyone else. So it has been for millennia. You might want to tell them though." She smiled. "About your little werewolf adventure. The rest is up to you."

"Oh. I have a question though." He said. "How old am I? I don't feel like I've aged at all. And what about the other Harry, the younger one in my head?"

She blinked, surprised. "What other Harry? Oh!" she said. "I get it. I don't think you understand. First of all, about your age, you don't feel like you've aged, because you haven't."

He blinked. "Er . . ."

"What confused me about your question, 'the second Harry in your head', is because there isn't a second Harry. You are the same person, and what you're viewing as a second Harry is really your second set of instincts that you gained from reliving your life. It may seem to you that it was a takeover, coming into your body. It would be, if you had entered the body of another person, but it's not. You're the same person, all that traveled back in time was your memories, your conscience awareness of them. So, in truth, you are eleven. When you were one day old, you really were one day old. But having the memories from you're other life made you BELIVE that you were fifteen, but they're not all that dominant. You feel like the same Harry, because you are. What you thought was a second Harry, that's you, the one that thinks, that I'm talking to right now. You ARE eleven."

Harry widened his eyes. "Wow! I didn't know that . . .?" That was weird to think about. It felt weird, all this time what he had viewed of as being the other being had been him all along.

Camellia smiled. "You should have seen the looks on your parent's faces when I came walking through the door." She got up gracefully and walked back through the door. "Oh Harry."

"Yeah?"

"Happy Birthday."

Harry looked out the window. Everyone was still downstairs, in the living room. Putting Hedwig on the windowsill, he flew down the stairs and landed on the couch, almost beaming Sirius in the head. His godfather's mouth dropped open. He stared at Harry, and then looked up questioningly. "Where did you come from?" he asked.

Harry laughed, but didn't inform him. "You'll never know . . ." he said mysteriously.

Sirius cocked an eyebrow.

"Another one of the weird quirks of this house." Harry explained.

"Oh, like the oven . . ." Sirius trailed off.

Harry didn't ask. "Um, guys." He said nervously. That caught their attention. "I kinda need to tell you something."

They settled on the couches, catching the tone of his voice. Camellia smiled and nodded encouragement. They gave her an interrogating look.

That reminded him. "Is Remus here?"

Sirius shook his head regretfully. "No, tonight's the full moon. He really wanted to come, and he said that he'd make it up to you as soon as possible."

Harry nodded. "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it, Harry?" Lily asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Well . . ." he looked over their faces. "Mum, we've talked about how you're not really normal-human normal-like completely, you know? And you told us all about the Dark Pact between the dark creatures. Well when I was kidnapped from Hogwarts- apparently," he added. "I've been told- by the people who I ended up with, that I was rescued by a pack of werewolves, because of the fact that I have this pact protection, just like Mum, that the other dark creatures in the area wanted to rescue me. And when they put me down, one accidentally bit me."

They stared, not saying anything. Their faces looked shocked. "Did it . . ." Lily said softly.

"You haven't changed during the full moons that you've been here!" James protested.

Harry nodded. "I know. It's weird. I guess it only affected me at all because I'm wizard, too. But it depends, sometimes I change and sometimes I don't. I don't really know why. Something about me being able to shift between being human and not human."

Sirius choked slightly. Harry looked at him, worried.

"Do you think it will happen? What happens if it does?" James asked.

"I've never hurt anybody." Harry explained, turning away from Sirius, who was turning purple. "I just like running the woods."

"And you didn't tell us?" Lily asked.

Harry blinked. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I didn't really think about it. I haven't changed since. . ." he searched for a number. "I had to have been a couple years old, only. But I don't know if it, lycanthropy, will come back."

James nodded. "All right, we'll keep an eye out, and warn Dumbledore. Maybe you grew out of it or something."

Sirius breathed.

* * *

Days Later...

Harry wandered along, pushing through people. His father was shoving the trolley, and his mother walked next to him as she led the way to platform nine and three quarters. He already knew what it was, but they didn't know that. He followed her.

Hedwig was in her cage, and his chest was all packed. Harry had placed several of the smaller elven knives- one was tucked inside his boot with in a small leather half sheath, another was in the small of his back, and several ducked and hidden under his clothes. He didn't suppose he would need them, but something felt good about having them next to his skin.

A brief explanation and they had pushed through the barrier. They were late; the platform was emptying rapidly as people piled onto the Hogwarts Express. Lily gave him a hug, as James picked up his stuff. He grabbed Hedwig's cage and lugged his chest along as he stepped up to the scarlet train.

"Good luck!" Lily said.

"Have fun!"

"Don't forget, you have to sign up to come home for Christmas. Oh, and don't get into any trouble."

"At least," James said with a wink. "Not before you learn anything useful." Lily gave him a glare.

Harry grinned and waved as he stepped up and walked inside. Every looked larger, he was smaller since he had last been here. And usually he'd had trouble with the weight of his chest, but even with everything he had put in there, he carried it easily. Elven training, probably. He was stronger now.

Looking into compartments, he looked for someone he knew. Harry stopped. _Oh yeah, I DON'T know anybody._ Surely Ron or Hermione must be here somewhere, and he could just go in and meet them. But he didn't see them anywhere. Finally, after walking back a forth a bit he came upon an empty compartment and sat down alone.

"I'll find them later." He murmured to himself. He thought back to what his parents had said, and smiled. _Everything was perfect._ Settling back, he pulled out one of his schoolbooks and flipped idly through it.

Hours later, the Hogwarts Express pulled into the Hogsmead station, right in front of the school. After dragging his stuff out, he started pushing his way through the crowd trying to get somewhere. To his surprise, he bumped right into Dean Thomas.

"Oh, excuse me." Harry said instinctively as he almost bowled the larger boy off his feet.

Dean regained his footing, and looked casually over Harry's head for someone. "That's okay. First years go over there."

"I'm not a first . . ." he trailed off, Dean was gone. Oh well, had he, himself, ever paid any attention to first years? No, not really.

Someone grabbed his shoulder. "Harry." He turned around, it was Professor McGonagall. She pulled him along. "Come this way, you can take on of the carriages with us. Unless you prefer to go over the lake?"

Harry shook his head. "Carriage is fine."

She nodded. "Do you need any help with your luggage?" she asked, eyes on his load.

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

He climbed aboard the first carriage; some lady and Professor Flitwick were already in there, comfortably seated. They greeted Harry, asked him a bit about his parents but then no more was said.

As they pulled up in front of the huge school, McGonagall motioned for him to follow her again. "Snape went to greet the first years." She said with chagrin. "Poor things. I hope he doesn't terrify them TOO much. Instead I came out to collect you. We'll keep you separate and sort you last. We've never had an exchange student or anything of the sort before."

Harry nodded and cringed as he imagine wet first years getting off the boats, terrified by the sorting and then running into Snape with his glare and dislike for first years- McGonagall had been bad enough with her stern gaze, he couldn't imagine what Snape was like with his evil glare of hatred.

Most of the staff was already at the staff table, and McGonagall placed him to the side out of the way as the older students filed in and took their seats. Harry looked out over them with a mental cheer. Never was he happier to see their faces- even Draco was over at the Slytherin table, looking cocky and arrogant. There was Ron! Sitting next to Dean Thomas, Parvati Patil, the rest of the current second year Gryffindors and his brothers, who were looking as mischievous as ever. Even Percy was there, back straight as a board.

The first years came in the side door led by Snape, eyes wide with horror. They huddled in the front of the room, and McGonagall resurfaced with a list and the school sorting hat. Placing it down on a stool, the old ragged hat open it's brim and sang in a loud croaky voice;

'Hopes, wishes, desires and dreams,

From every Wizarding boy and girl

Fly south, borne on owl wings

And drop down to houses awhirl.

They of the magical folk,

Lighting candles with a swish,

Try me on with shaking hands

Knowing not what they wish.

Some I will place in house Hufflepuff,

The loyal, kind, and without greed.

They spew kind words at every turn

And cannot do a bad deed.

There are others there of Ravenclaw,

Through and through they only fit

To be placed with those of knowing,

Dedication, quickness, and wit.

And yet others, standing up tall

Show characteristics instead

Of proud, mighty, Gryffindor;

Strength and courage of the lionhearted.

Cunning, crafty Slytherins may be.

Many among them there today

With true mastermind and will to show

They let none or nothing get in their way.

So if you be in your selected house

Or another, don't fear

You will be with those just like you,

For no aspect is unclear.

Each student has a house and houses their students,

And for thousands for years, these houses have been

Ravenclaw ravens, Gryffindor lions,

Badgers of Hufflepuff, and snakes to Slytherin.

The grand hall broke into applause, and the first years looked relieved. The sorting ensued, as one by one a student was called forth by McGonagall to try on the hat before retreat to their houses in relief. Finally, after several names and faces Harry recognized, all the first years had a house.

Dumbledore stood up, and every head turned to his direction. Dumbledore shot a glance in Harry's direction, and his stomach flip-flopped.

"So, thus all the first years have been sorted. But, alas, we have one more to sort."

There was a collective blink of surprise. Then conversations broke out, with several dismayed explanations. To his amusement, he recognized one as Hermione.

"But there have NEVER been anyone sorted after first year, or exchange students, never in history! It SAYS so in Hogwarts, A History!"

Dumbledore held up a hand. "There is a first time for everything." He said. "And this is a special circumstance. May I introduce you to-" he motioned to Harry, who stepped into view, " . . . Harry Potter."

There was silence. The students did nothing but stare in shock. Not a single whisper broke out. Harry felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. He closed his eyes for a moment, then stepped forward.

Dumbledore lifted the Sorting Hat, and gave it to McGonagall. She motioned for Harry to sit on the stool and he did. All eyes were upon him and she placed it on his head.

Almost immediately, a voice started conversing in his head.

"Hmm, this is interesting. Difficult, very difficult. Lets see, loyal enough to be a Hufflepuff, clever enough to be a Ravenclaw, cunning enough to be a Slytherin, and more than enough courage for Gryffindor. That leaves the question- where do I put you?"

Harry closed his eyes, and added his input. "Gryffindor, please, Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor, eh? Yes, that's right. Gryffindor would be fantastic for you." Harry smiled, and the hat shifted on his head, as the brim opened and everyone leaned forward in anticipation. Then suddenly the hat stopped. "Wait, what's this about dark elves? You grew up with WHERE? Oh . . ." and before Harry could object, the brim opened wide.

"SLYTHERIN!"


	27. On the Other Side

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six: On the Other Side

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry's mind shut down on the first syllable. The Great Hall went completely silent. He felt some blood in his mouth, he had bit something. His teeth were feeling particularly sharp.

He sat frozen. The look on McGonagall's face was one of surprise, and a bit of horror. A tingle ran down his arms, next to the bone. It swept along, growing stronger. Under his skin, the flesh slowly started warping. NO! Harry realized. I can't change now! Closing his eyes, he managed to calm down. McGonagall lifted the hat on his head, and he stood to his feet.

Stiffly, he headed toward the Slytherin table, barely managing to keep the changes under control. He sat down at an empty seat at the end of the table, next to some people he didn't know. He wanted to protest to yell at the Sorting Hat, to make it change its mind somehow. He didn't move. It was all he could do to keep his wings from bursting out from his back.

All eyes were on him, still. There was no applause, and an uncomfortable silence ensued until someone (_probably Ron_, Harry thought) started eating and the rest followed. It took a while, but finally everyone turned back to their food and stopped staring at him. They leaned over the table and whispered to their friends, but no comments were made. Harry snuck a peek at Dumbledore, who didn't seem fazed.

The Slytherin table was giving him strange looks. _Slytherin._ Harry realized. _I'm in Slytherin._

His second thought-_ what will my parents think?_ He was still frozen with terror. He stared at the food in front of him, not touching it. Noticing this, the girl next to him, gave him a slight nudge. "You okay?" she asked.

He blinked, and nodded. "I'm fine." He said. She was older than him, a third year perhaps. She acknowledged his answer with a slight nod. Leaning back a bit, Harry surveyed the great hall. Some people were still starting at him . . . then again, he had been the savior of the world, and then disappeared for eleven years. This time he would be attracting even more attention because he had completely vanished instead of being relocated with his relatives by Dumbledore. Harry spirits sank.

Ron was at the Gryffindor table, along with the other second years. Harry scanned along the table, searching faces. _Where's Hermione?_ He could have sworn he heard her talk.

There she was, beyond them, sitting stately at the Ravenclaw table. Harry felt like ice inside. He was starting to feel miserable. _I'm in Slytherin . . . Hermione isn't even in Gryffindor._

Dinner was over, and crowds slowly migrated through the door and disappeared. Finally, he got and looked around hopelessly.

"Nice to meet you." A voice came from behind Harry. He turned around, to meet the eyes and open hand of Draco Malfoy.

He didn't react. He just stood looking at the hand. A minute later, looking uncomfortable, Draco drew it back to his side. "We could show you where the common room is?" he said, in an inquiring tone that Harry would normally have found amusing..

Harry almost shook his head, then stopped. Yeah, he had to find his way to the common room. "All right." He said reluctantly.  
Draco turned around, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. "This way." Draco said.

Harry just sneered. _I can't believe I'm actually talking to Draco_, he thought. _This is weird. Hell, if he tries to make friends with me, I'm going to puke._

They turned around and left the Great Hall, Harry following. He noticed Crabbe and Goyle giving him strange looks- they looked scared of him. Harry ignored them, and walked on, head turned down.

Their footsteps echoed hollowly in the stone corridors as they sloped lower. The air acquired a strange scent, exotic and metallic, like something poisonous. Finally, he stopped at a stretch of wall in the middle of an empty wall, and turned to it. "Caliga." He said. "That's the password." He said to the others.

Harry snorted. HE wasn't going to be nice to Draco. Draco may be trying to get him on his side, but he wouldn't be fooled- he knew what Draco was really like.

Part of the stone wall slid to the side, opening a doorway. They stepped through, and Harry gazed around the common room. The ground was bare and stone, with a few black rugs strewn about, underneath oversized green sofas and armchairs. The fabric surfaces were all embroidered with silver forms of various beasts, mainly snakes, as snakes were the main decoration in the room. The walls were stone as well, with several grumpy looking portraits in silver frames. There was a large fireplace with a lavishly carved mantelpiece in one of the walls, with a large burning fire, obviously magical, as the smoke didn't have anywhere to go. Otherwise it was fairly dark besides several orblike green lanterns hanging from the ceiling on chains, and the flickering light of the flames gave the impression of many blinking eyes from the uneven stone surfaces. Several stone and ebony statues stood in various corners, and a long wooden table went across the back of the room with several high backed chairs. On either side of the table were two high black doors, open. The ceiling was low, and it gave the room a protected feeling, though Harry didn't feel comforted at all.

"This is the common room." Draco said. "The door to the right is the girls' dormitories, and the left is the boys'."

He led them to the door on the left, and led them in. Instead of going up like the Gryffindor tower dorms, stairs on the other side spiraled down drastically. There was another green lantern next to the door, but where the stairs went down, they dove into a pit of complete blackness. It was like looking into a black hole. As the descended, a particle of light followed them, barely lighting up the hall from behind, so they could only see a couple steps below. Rough wood doors started appearing on the sides, with numbers scratched in them, as if done hastily with a sharp stone or stick. Probably was. They went deeper, and finally they came upon a door with a number two engraved into it. "Second years." Draco said, and opened the door.

There was a row of beds along the far wall, with thick green velvet drapes. Chests lay out in front of each one, by the house elves most likely. There weren't any windows, as they were, after all, in a dungeon. Which was exactly what it looked like.

Draco sat down on the bed nearest to the door, and fortunately Harry saw his chest next to the farthest bed. He walked over and flopped backward on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Draco stood uncomfortably by the door for a moment before motioning to Crabbe and Goyle and leaving Harry alone.

Harry didn't move. He had been sorted into Slytherin _. . . who was that girl at the table, the third year?_ She has been nice to him. Maybe some of the Slytherins weren't as bad as he'd thought. He sighed. He missed Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, and the rest of them more than ever. Draco had seemed uneasy around him. Harry smiled. _Well I wasn't exactly been acting like I was inviting him to be friends. Which was good, I definitely wasn't. Maybe I can just stay out of Draco's way, and we'll never have to talk._ He snorted. _Yeah right. And Draco isn't going to leave me alone, especially when I go out of my way to make friends with the Gryffindors. The house rivalry stuff was bull. Like I'm going to stick to any of it._

Harry felt like there was a thick wall separating him and the rest of his old friends. _Can I just go over and talk to them?_

_But why was I sorted into Slytherin? Just because of my life as a dark elf?_ He sighed again. _Maybe it changed me more than I thought._ Harry contemplated on how he could be different. He thought about it so hard he absentmindedly pulled out one of his elven knives and shredded one of his shoes. But he STILL could not figure out how he was different from last time around.

_The sorting hat said that I would fit into all of the houses, so I don't really fit into any certain one,_ Harry thought. _So I guess the house I went in depended on my persuasion of the hat and what it pulled out of my memories. This time the sorting hat needed more persuasion, and I didn't realize that._

He pulled the curtains shut around him and listened. One by one the rest of the second years came in and finally they all feel asleep, Harry's keen hearing could tell from the way that their breathing slowed and evened out.

He couldn't sleep, and lay late into the night poring through memories, practicing with his knives and trying to turn his mind away from the coming day.

He must have fallen asleep at some time or another, because he woke up in the morning with a jolt. Upon opening his eyes, Harry was assaulted with various shades of green. He sat up, looking around. A sound had woken him up, but his dorm mates were still asleep. The door was opening, and a dark form was emerging into the glow from the lamps. As the person stepped forward, Harry recognized the tall form. Shoulder length black hair swung forward as the person strained with something heavy.

"Severus." Harry said, slipping out of his bed and standing up.

Snape jumped violently, dropping the crate he was holding in surprise. "It's Professor Snape." He said crossly, but less harsh than usual.

"Professor Snape." Harry repeated, and decided to smile.

Snape didn't smile back. "This is for you." he said, holding the crate up. Harry went over to see what it was.

There was a sound coming from it, and snarling hissing. Harry pried the crate apart with one hand, completely missing Snape's astonished look. A white something leaped out at him, and claws snagged onto his robes that he had never changed out of. He stood unmoving and looked down at it.

It was a snow-white cat, with thick fluffy fur and an amazingly long tail. Its eyes were a light and pure blue, and they had a crazy look in them. The cat looking fairly young, not a kitten but somewhere half way. Seeing him, it purred, but then turned around and snarled up a storm at Snape, clawed him thoroughly before leaping to the ground.

Harry grinned as Snape swore horribly.

_Fury!_

**_Harry!_ **She said, and bounced up to land on his head. Luckily he had quick reflexes so he caught her by the nape of her neck.

**_He dropped me_**, she said angrily and yowled at Snape as he glared at her.

"What is THAT?" Snape asked. "Your parents sent it."

"This is my cat." Harry said simply.

"Oh, your CAT. What's its name?"

"Her. Her name." He held on tight as Fury screeched and swung her claws around narrowly missing Harry. "Her name is . . ." He glanced at Fury's white fur. "Uh, Angel."

"Angel!" Snape spat. "That. . . THING couldn't resemble an Angel any less if it tried."

Harry shrugged. "Come on Angel." He said, setting her down on his shoulder.

_Behave, just for a minute._

**_Eh neh . . . _**she grumbled and setting down on his shoulder.

Snape cocked an eyebrow. "I'll be going now." He said, turning around without other comment.

"Wait." Harry said.

"What?" Snape said, half turning.

"How come the other second years didn't wake up from the noise?" he asked.

Snape pointed at the beds. "The drapes block out virtually all noise. It's really hard to hear through them, the noise has to be really loud."

Harry nodded. "Oh." _I heard through them fine. Ah well. Maybe that could be used to my advantage . . _.

Snape left through the door, the accompanying green glow fading.

Harry had been the first up in the Great Hall for breakfast, which was already on the tables, and some fellow early birds soon joined him. In the years before, he had always been some of the last to show up for breakfast, in chaos resulting as the room became crowded with students. When he arrived, people would call out greetings to him and welcome him to the table. This morning, no one spared him a word.

Harry placed his plate to the side and stood up, looking around. There were several Slytherins at his table, and none of them looked at him. He decided to go for a walk; the common room was too depressing. 'Angel' who had been following him skittered out form underneath the table and followed at his heels.

He went down and walked past the trophy hall, peering in for a second before moving on. Uncharacteristically graceful as a cat, Fury suddenly leapt forward and sprinted away disappearing around the corner. There was a yowl, followed by another yowl, and some hissing.

What had she gotten herself into now? Harry hurried around the corner. Surprised, he almost tripped over Mrs. Norris, who was being attacked by a slightly smaller Angel. Filch's cat's wails disappeared into the distance and Angel returned, satisfied, to Harry's heels.

**_I've always wanted to do that. _**She said smugly.

Harry laughed, and he was joined by voices other than his, and his head snapped up. They stopped.

It was the Weasley twins. Seeing who he was, they blinked in surprise. "That was classic." said Fred.

"Simply hysterical." George added.

Harry smiled and nodded, noticing some odd objects they had in their hands. Before he could get a good look, the objects were tucked away in a book bag.

"Thanks." George. "If you hadn't shown up, then she would have fetched Filch for sure."

"And then we'd be in trouble."

George froze after his brother. "You aren't going to turn us in, are you?" He said semi-anxiously.

Harry shook his head. "Of course not. I've broken several . . . eh. Rules." He stopped. "Though I think I should be worried . . ." Harry trailed off with a grin.

The Weasley twins grinned.

"Yeah, I spend some time here this summer, and I explored. I know lots of hidden passages and such." Harry said.

"Not as much as we do." Fred said.

Harry didn't comment for a moment. "That I don't doubt. Though perhaps quality is more important."

Fred gave him an interrogating look. "Are you suggesting you've been in hidden passages than we haven't?"

Harry shrugged. Hey, it was true. They had never been under the Whomping Willow, nor in the Chamber of Secrets. "Yeah."

Their eyes bugged. "Care to tell . . . ?" George asked.

Harry simply shook his head. "Nope." He turned around and started walking away, satisfied. _Well, that hadn't gone as I hoped. But it was too temping, knowing that I actually knew more hidden chambers and secret passages than them. And had probably lost more house points, knowing those were two areas of pride. I should have kept my mouth shut._

"Harry." Someone called, and he turned around.

George nodded his chin at him. "Come late to lunch today. Really late."

Fred nodded. "Get our drift?"

Harry smirked. "I get it. Thanks." He turned around again.

"Harry!"

"What?"

"For a Slytherin, you're all right."

Harry turned around, and they shared one last conspiratory look. "Thank you. That means more to me than you know."

They disappeared into an adjoining corridor, and Harry went on.

"Harry!" someone called. He turned around, wincing mentally.

Draco motioned with his hand. "You'll be late for lessons."

Sighing, Harry turned around to follow the blond boy.

Slytherins had the same classes as Gryffindors; he could remember most of them from his second year. They were taught the same. He even had the same Herbology class, but with the Ravenclaws. Hermione was in this class, but on the other side of the room, and he didn't get a chance to talk to her.

Goyle was complaining to Professor Sprout about how he got red earmuffs, and he wanted green ones. She just grinned. "Be glad that you didn't get any fluffy pink ones. Dumbledore borrowed those a couple years ago, and never returned them."

They repotted mandrakes, Harry managing to work by himself most of the time. At least they didn't need to be used for reviving anyone this year- he had stopped Ginny from getting the book, so therefore she couldn't be taken over my Tom Riddle.

His next class was Defense against the Dark Arts. Harry was one of the first ones there; he stuck his head in and looked around the room. It was very different. The walls were a deep purple color and there were several flower vases around the room among shelves of books and various empty cages. At the front of the room, Professor Sage, still there since Harry was a baby, stood smiling at the returning students. Recognizing Harry, she walked forward. "A pleasure to have you in my class, Harry."

Her face sobered. "Your gryphon once saved my life." She told him. "If not for her, I wouldn't be here now."

Harry smiled back and shook her hand.

Harry left the class, feeling good. They had started with Djinns, and he didn't have to deal with Lockhart. Harry didn't think he could deal with having that git for a professor for another whole year.

Walking down the hall with Angel clinging to his book bag, Harry almost tripped on someone much shorter than him. He turned around-

CLICK

Harry blinked from a flash. For a second he looked into the face of Colin Creevey, before he turned tail and ran as fast as he could down the hall, ducking under people. Harry blinked. Colin looked TERRIFIED.

Harry sighed. _Maybe that's an improvement. He won't be following me all over the place. . . I hope. It was weird to see Colin that scared of me. Am I that intimidating? Probably just because I'm in Slytherin. It's already messing with my life._

His next class was potions, with the Gryffindors. _It's the first class with the Gryffindors so far . . . _Harry was feeling lightly edgy. _I always disliked potions . . . and I hope that there won't be any fighting between the houses._

He descended down in to the dungeons. The potions room was somewhere way above the Slytherin dorms. Harry had always thought that it was near the bottom of Hogwarts- _I guess the castle always had it's surprises. Though that isn't quite true- the Chamber of Secrets is way deeper even that that- descending below the lake itself._

Harry entered the potions room; sitting near the back and watching students pick their seats. Ron appeared suddenly on the far corner of the room sitting next to Dean Thomas. He didn't see Harry behind, looking at him. Draco sat at the front of the room with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson, and the rest of the second years sat behind him. Harry leaned back- no one had sat next to him.

The potions master came into the room, robes sweeping behind him. He looked around the room, glancing quickly at all the old students. His eyes lingered on Harry's face for a moment before he went to the front of the classroom, looking across the student.

"As this is your second year, I expect you to know how to behave yourself and what I want from you in this class. Any violations of my rules will result in points being taken away from your house. The person you are sitting next to will be your potions partner for the first part of the year, as some of the potions require two people. Therefor you will be graded on your overall desired effect and correct procedure with your potion, and your teamwork," he said this with certain acidity. "As well."

Everybody nodded, eyeing their partners. As no one had sat next to Harry, he didn't have a partner. Harry shrugged.

"We will be starting off this year." Snape continued. "With a lesson. Consider it a test. I am evaluating your skills in potions and what you still need to learn."

The students looked worried, hunching their shoulders and giving each other apprehensive looks.

"The test has three parts. The first part is to do a simple shrinking potion, from memory. This was covered last year. The second is to make the potion whose ingredients are listed up here. You will have to determine what the potion could be used for, based on what happens when you test it on yourself and your partner." Eyes popped. "Last year, we went over what results different combinations of ingredients invoke. The third part of the test is to make a potion that will successfully make the rose bud, which you will find on the side of your tables, bloom. I don't expect many of you to complete the third section. It requires sufficient knowledge of your potion ingredients. There are several different ways to make a flower bloom, if you are resourceful."

Jaws gaped open, even those of the Slytherins. Harry couldn't remember anything like this from his second year . . . the shrinking solution was easy; he knew that in his sleep. He could follow the instructions for the second potion if he was careful . . . but how on earth do you make a rosebud bloom? Harry found the said flower next to him, small and blood red with several small rough leaves encircling it.

He sighed, and got to work laying out his ingredients. He had everything required on the list, the right ingredients must be there somewhere.

"Oh." Snape added softly. "And if I catch you looking at anybody else's work except your own, you will get zero credit for this test."

Harry easily lifted his heavy potions cauldron onto the table and set to work on his shrinking solution. There was a presence behind him, and he turned to find the potions master.

"Harry." He said, looking down at the small twelve year old. "You don't have a partner, and you weren't here last year. Will you be able to complete everything?"

Harry blinked, surprised at he question. "I believe so, Professor."

Snape nodded slowly. "Of course you can." He said deliberately. "Considering you've never had a potions lesson before in your life." He added with a twist of sarcasm.

Harry bit his tongue. "Erm. I picked up some things when I was younger. I can do simple potions."

"I see." The professor left. All across the room, head bent over cauldrons in concentration and hands bustled as partners whispered to each other.

Harry tossed in the correct ingredients, stirring. He tested his potion out a quill, and it shrunk to the size of a toothpick. With a short smile, he bottled it and placed it on the edge of his desk. Several people were already ahead of him.

Lavender and Parvati appeared to be having trouble, and Crabbe and Goyle, who had been paired together, were just plain lost.

Harry studied his potion. Maybe it was a potion that they had done in future years, and just hadn't been taught to the second years yet, and he could recognize it. Harry heard a thump and resisted turning to look as Snape's eyes roamed for cheaters. Harry resisted prodding his potion, as well. He hadn't been in potions class for years; it was more fun than before, probably because he knew most of the material for the next couple years. Also, his potions texture resembled silly putty.

Harry stuck his hand into his bag, reaching around. He touched something soft, and he pulled it out. It was a mangled quill, bent in strange zigzag lines from the weight of his books. This will do, Harry thought, leaning over his cauldron. He touched it to his potion, immersed it all the way up to his fingers before pulling it out again.

For several seconds there was no noticeable difference. The dusty gray feather lay limply on the desk. Suddenly, it curled, twisting around in a corkscrew before straightening as if ironed. _Whoa, it's now perfect._ The Z shape had straightened and the feather looked as if it had fallen from the sky; it was no longer a quill. Neat, he thought. Pulling out another quill he wrote in neat letters on his piece of parchment- 'Restores objects'. Harry stood up to wash out his cauldron, letting go of the paper.

It floated down, caught the air and swirled into his cauldron. Harry looked in disappointed, and blinked. It was gone! The parchment had simply disintegrated. Grabbing another piece, he rewrote 'restores objects' adding 'Disintegrates other objects'. Smug for having caught the second capability, he stood up again, when he got another idea.

Restores objects. . . ? Could it work, to maybe make things grow, too?

Picking up the rosebud, he dipped the edge of it into his potion. The petal unfurled, immediately becoming bright red. Harry grinned, submerging it. It pulled it out flawless. Grinning, he disposed of his potion in the large sink behind him and sat down to wait.

minutes later...

The dungeons hummed as the class was almost over. People walked around as the bottles containing the shrinking solution were stacked, marked, at the front of the room along with a healthy sized pile of papers. The students were looking fairly forlorn. Talk sprung out between them and they talked rapidly. Harry looked around. No one seemed to have gotten their rose to bloom, at all.

Harry stood and tried to walk over to talk to Ron as class was over, the red head disappeared into an ocean of black cloaks.

A hand touched his shoulder.

Harry sighed. He really didn't feel like dealing with Snape, who probably wanted to question him- he turned around and came face to face with one of the Slytherin girls he had never spoken to before, even last time. She leaned forward quickly, and looking around to see if anyone was listening.

"Harry." She said quietly. "I have to tell you something. Listen, some students-"

"Tracy!" someone interrupted, and she swung around. There was a six or seventh year Slytherin standing at the door, looking at her intently.

Sparing Harry another glance, she shrugged, and went over to the seventh year. He told her something, and she nodded. Harry stood waiting for her to come back_- what was she trying to tell me about the some of the students?_ As the seventh year dismissed her, she suddenly walked off without acknowledging him.

Harry was surprised. _She had seemed really determined to tell me . . . something_. _Had the older student told her not to? Threatened her, perhaps?_

He hurried into the hall and called after her retreating back. "Hey! Tracy!"

She turned around and waited for him to catch up. "What?" she asked.

"What were you going to tell me?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Never mind. Nothing important."

He didn't follow her as she left again. Harry felt eyes on his back, and he whipped his head around. The sixth or seventh year was staring intensely at him, coal black eyes seemingly judging him. As he watched, the dark eyed Slytherin disappeared down the hall, until Harry was standing alone.

_What's going on here?_


	28. Harry vs Squid

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Harry vs. Squid

* * *

Harry's POV

Lunch rolled around. Harry started in the direction of the Great Hall before stopping. _No, I don't really feel like being subjected to on of the Weasley's plots, thanks,_ Harry thought sarcastically. _I'll pass._

Unable to resist, be poked his head into the Great Hall. Harry could see nothing suspicious, but that was to be expected. Everyone was already at the tables, and Harry scoured the tables quickly for his friends.

He wished he had his old friends to talk to; he didn't have any friends in Slytherin. Ron was definitely too busy- there was a party, or something like it, going on at the Gryffindor table. They were cheering, throwing food. Ron was in the middle with Dean and Seamus, the three appeared to be fast friends. Ron had a huge grin on his face and he looking perfectly happy as he talked excitedly.

Hermione was nowhere to be seen. _Where could she possibly be at this time?_ He thought restlessly. Then it dawned on him. _Where else could she possibly be!_ He wheeled around and emerged into the library several moments later, looking around. There she sat, surrounded by several piles of books at her own table, head deep in wrist thick Volume XI of The Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures. Harry sighed. Everyone else was at lunch.

He went to the bookshelf directly behind her, and looked down the titles to look for anything interesting. He grabbed a random spine and pulled it out. 'Phenomenon's- study of supernatural families and crossbreeding'. Harry blinked. _Interesting. I may actually want to read it._ Whirling around, he turned to Hermione.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked. She looked up blinked. Her eyes looked a bit unfocused. "Erm, yeah. Sure."

Harry smiled and sat down. He sat in silence for a minute, finally deciding that the longer he took, the worse it would be. He straightened. "My name's Harry." He held out a hand.

She looked at it. "I know." She reached out and shook hands. "I'm Hermione Granger."

Harry nodded. "Nice to meet you . . . that interesting?"

She nodded, suddenly no longer quiet. "Oh yes!" she said enthusiastically. " Did you know that there's an animal that lives off poisonous mushrooms that can only be seen when doused with lake water called the Echara?"

Harry blinked. "Er, no."

"There's a fantastic section on nymphs, as well." She said, flipping through one of the other volumes. "Look, here- dryads, oreads, naiads, hydriads, meliads, heleads, epimeliads, nereids, oceanids, limonaids, napaea, limniads, heliades, hyades, pegaiai . . ." she droned on.

Harry stared.

" . . . krinaia, potameids, eleionomai, perimelides, aloniads, okemids, nephelai, daphniai, aurai, lampades-" She took a breath. "And more." She added as an afterthought.

"That's a lotta nymphs." Harry said, slightly horrified.

Hermione nodded, agreeing. Suddenly her face contorted, and she coughed. With one big heave, she spit a frog out onto the table. It looked around curiously before hopping away. Hermione watched it.

"Strange side affects indeed." She said with disapproval.

Harry didn't comment.

"So do you like to read?" she asked, turning to him.

"Er . . ." Harry shook himself mentally to her question. "It depends on whether I'm interested or not." He said tactfully.

She smiled. "Hey, for a Slytherin."

Harry noted the way she said Slytherin. "Don't get along well with Slytherins?" he guessed.

She nodded. "Most of them can't appreciate a good book when they read one, and I doubt they do. Extremely prejudiced, as well." She eyed him. "No offense, of course."

"None taken. Haven't gotten along that well with the others yet anyway."

She smiled sympathetically. "I'm sure you'll get along fine after a while." Harry smiled back. "What's that book?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked down. "'Phenomenon's- study of supernatural families and crossbreeding.' It seems kind of interesting."

"Yeah. I'm looking for some information on the dark pact, myself." Harry looked up. Misinterpreting the look, she explained. "It's not very well known, it's a pact between all dark creatures, like vampires and some werewolves."

She opened her mouth to continue, but a huge explosion rocked the floor. They looked around. All fifty seven volumes of Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures came hurting down around them, and they ducked under the table to avoid being hit. Harry looked around, worried, and then realized it must have been from the Great Hall. He resisted the urge to grin.

"What's happened?" Hermione gasped as the floor vibrated.

"I dunno."

They waited until books had stopped falling off the shelves." _Oh boy, they've really done it this time._

The door slammed open, and Professor McGonagall strode in. Harry slid out from underneath the table. Her eyes landed on him.

"Harry Potter! Did YOU have something to do with this!" She asked.

Harry didn't answer, he stared. Her colors were all wrong. Her glasses were missing, and she her trademark bun was off center. McGonagall's robes had evidently switched colors with her face and hair . . .

"ANSWER ME!" she bellowed.

Hermione crawled out after him. "He was here with me the whole time, I swear-" she came to a guttural stop. "My god." She gasped. "What happened to YOU?"

McGonagall lost her hard look when seeing Hermione. "Color bomb." She said gruffly and disappeared through the door. The two looked at each other before snorting into their hands. There was a sign on the back of her robe- 'not getting any younger'.

Hermione shook her head sternly. "I'll get back to my reading." She said, turning around.

"Oh. Talk to you later?"

"Sure." She said, smiling.

Harry left, feeling better. He stood, undecided on where to go next. Finally, he went back to the Slytherin dorms, to drop off his book.

"Caliga." He ordered and the common room slid open. He stepped in, and stopped abruptly. The common room wasn't empty, as he had expected it to be, due to an announcement through the castle corridors that the color spells were being undone in the Great Hall.

The Slytherins turned to look at him, eyes flashing. Nobody moved.

"Erm . . . I guess you didn't get hit by the color bombs?"

One of the seventh year Slytherins shook his head. As he stepped forward, Harry recognized him as the seventh year from the other day who had interrupted him and Tracy. Sure enough, Tracy was sitting on the sofa looking on.

"We weren't at lunch." The seventh year said simply.

"Oh." A chill ran up Harry's back from all the eyes staring at him. "I was in the library." He looked over them, trying to recognize their faces. Some were from his year, Tracy, another girl and some guy, then the third year that was nice to him after the sorting, and the rest of them he didn't know.

They shifted under his scrutiny and turned away. _What were they up to?_

Harry quickly walked away and dropped off his book in the second year rooms. By the time he had gotten back to the common room, most of the people there had cleared off and those remaining had settled into more natural positions.

With a grinding noise, the door slid open, and Draco stalked through, looking disgruntled. He eyed the common room, nobody looked up at him. His eyes fell on Harry.

"Hello Harry."

"Eh."

Draco, ignoring him, walked up. "You weren't in the Great Hall were you?"

"No, library."

"Oh. I don't go in there often. Gives Crabbe and Goyle headaches for some reason. Lucky for you, I must say. Avoided that whole mess all together." He grinded his teeth together. "I bet it was one of those Gryffindors. Keep clear of them Harry. Overzealous brats, every single one of them. Can't STAND Gryffindors."

Harry clenched his teeth.

"I'm going out." Harry tried to distract him.

"Out where? I'll come. They're done upstairs, lets go to the lake." Draco collected Crabbe and Goyle as they came through the door.

Harry sighed, exasperated. He felt eyes on his back, suddenly, and turned his head around, but no one was watching him.

He left the common room accompanied by Draco and his two bodyguards. They walked in relative silence up out of the dungeons.

The Great Hall was a shock- all of the students had had their colors sorted out, but the room was a mismatch of broken, clashing rainbows- even the portraits and the ceiling. Apparently, the sky outside was pale green with reddish- purple clouds. It was slightly disturbing.

"How could someone mess with the enchanted ceiling?" Harry asked Draco, curiosity overcoming him. They teachers were standing around, shooting spells everywhere and setting things right.

Draco snorted. "Doesn't take that much work, actually. No one could damage the actually spells, they've been set there by the founders themselves. What you CAN do is change the way that we can see them. All this person did was go out and buy about a hundred basic color bombs from their local joke shop, and then altered them a bit. Then they enchanted them to be invisible and hovered them throughout the room. Seems a lot of work to me." he said loftily.

Harry nodded.

"Clear out!" Professor Flitwick instructed from the stool he was standing on. "We'll find the culprit later, just watch. Until then, stay away until we're done."

Harry shrugged and left. They emerged into the sunlight, and the thankfully blue sky. Most of the students had gone outside, and were spread out. Harry felt wistful as he realized that the large group by the lake was organizing a Quidditch game, judging by their brooms. Malfoy looked smug. "Crabbe, get my broom." He ordered. He added, "And Harry's too."

"Erm, okay." Harry said as Crabbe lumbered off with a look of vague purpose on his face.

"I'm trying for the seeker position on the house team this year." Draco said. "You play Quidditch?"

"A bit, yes."

"What position?"

"Uh, several. My dad's keen on me being a chaser." Harry didn't add that seeker was his favored position.

"There's a spot open for seeker, and there's always backups for the other positions. Tryouts for seeker in a few weeks."

They headed over to the ruminating Quidditch game. Harry noted quite a few glares in their direction. As they stepped up, the group became a circle around them.

Looking as if something were smelling badly, Ron suddenly stepped out of the crowd, Dean and Seamus right behind him. "What do you want here?" he asked harshly. Draco sneered and pretended he hadn't heard him.

Harry tried to smile. Standing right in front of his best friend again after all this years was great, if only he wasn't glaring in Harry's general direction. "Are you going to play Quidditch? Can I be on a team?"

Ron turned to him. "What makes you think that you can play? Just because you're famous and you're friends with Draco? No one wants you on their team, anyway."

Harry was surprised. The twins were standing behind Ron, and George gave Harry a shrug. "We're choosing teams, Ron." He said.

Ron ignored his brother.

"No, that's not why. Because I enjoy Quidditch." Harry said to his own defense. "And you don't know if I can fly or not."

Ron's eyes narrowed and Harry felt his stomach go icy. "I challenge you then. Across the lake and back, race." He said. "On brooms."

"Obviously." Draco said. "I don't suppose you've learned to walk on water, have you, Weasley?"

Ron glared.

"Okay." Harry agreed. "And if I win?"

"Then you can play. If not, go away and leave us alone." Ron picked up his broom. "Where's your broom, Potter?"

Harry grimaced at this and turned around, where Crabbe was standing with his and Draco's Nimbus 2000s. Harry grabbed his. "Here."

Ron eyed it.

"Here Ron." One of the Hufflepuffs had a Nimbus 2000 as well, and he passed it to Ron, who grinned. "Aye. Fair's fair. Start from here. Go across the lake at a diagonal and loop around that tree there and come back." Harry nodded. The trail didn't go across the lake to where the Forbidden Forest was, but it cut off an edge of the lake and continued on the grounds. Harry coughed when he saw what tree Ron had pointed to_- the Whomping Willow._

"Fair's fair." He repeated. _Considering you didn't tell of any of the hazards, even though I'm a new student._

They stood next to each other, brooms ready. Lee Jordan emerged from the fray. "I'll count to one." They braced themselves. "Three, two, one- go!"

They kicked off the ground, putting Harry immediately ahead, as he was lighter and he had tons more experience from his time on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They had practiced shoving off as to get the most advantage.

The wind blew their robes up around them like the wings of some kind of black bird. It cut into their eyes and they shot over the waves. Ron finally managed to catch up with him, and they evened out and sped up. Harry tried pulling ahead, making himself more aerodynamic. Ron seemed cocky, grinning to himself as they neared the large tree.

Ron swerved in a larger arc, moving to the outside to clear the dangerous branches. After a hesitant second, Harry dove close. He could make it through, on his BROOM. . .

THWAP!

A tree branch came at him with a speed that made the air whistle. Harry ducked and it went over his head. Suddenly he was under a barrage of tree branches as they came hurtling at him from all directions.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea . . .

About three hit him at the same time, and he spun off course. One hit his broom, the other his leg and the third, his face. Ouch, that was going to bruise. Everything went black for a moment.

He managed to go around the trunk in the middle of the tree, and seeing as opening through the wall of moving branches he shot through it and turned back, way ahead. Harry glanced over his shoulder, catching the shocked look on Ron's face. Grinning, he continued.

Harry was already half way across the lake when Ron came up behind him. He leaned forward, concentrating on the waiting group of people on the other side.

HUHCRUNCH- Harry brutally slammed against a wall.

He slid down, and then fell freely. Harry heard a yell behind him, and he twisted, shaking himself awake, to see a huge tentacle whip by.

_Crap._

The giant squid pulled Ron nearly down to the water before the Gryffindor managed to wrench his way out. Ron flew straight up, veering to the left and then rolled over. Suddenly the tentacle came back for Harry, grabbing at him._ Oops._ He ducked and it gave another try.

Harry dove straight down, going horizontal near the water and trying to escape out from underneath the tentacle hovering above him. It suddenly came slamming down. His heart stopped beating for a moment at the sight of the massive tentacle plummeting right toward his head.

With a yell, he suddenly realized he had reached the shore, and he shot up the rocks and skimmed over the top.

The squid hit the rocks with a splatting sound.

Harry came to a stop. The students had doubled, and apparently someone had gotten the teachers. They stood, jaws open. "Well, I never . . ." McGonagall said, staring at the squid. Ron had come to a stop as well, and he tumbled off, grabbing his arm in pain. Harry suddenly realized that everything was getting blurry, and his head hurt. He slowly slipped, broom sliding through his fingers . . .

* * *

Later, Harry's POV

Slowly everything came into a fuzzy focus. His glasses were on the table.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to fall asleep when you have a concussion?" A voice said sharply, and he looked up into Madam Pomfrey's disapproving face.

Harry smiled an innocent smile. He looked around. It was late evening, and Ron was asleep in the next bed, with his arm bandaged. Harry felt his face and winced.

"Drink this." She passed him a cup. Harry eyed it.

"Drink!"

He sighed and swallowed it. There was a flash of pain in his head, and everything got clearer. Slowly he felt himself drift off to sleep. "You can leave in the morning . . ." her faded away.

* * *

in the morning...

Harry woke up, to find his clothes on the bedside chair, and the room otherwise empty. Ron's curtains were closed around his bed. Harry put on his robes inside his canopy bed and got up, stopping by a mirror. There was a dark bruise from the Willow across his right cheekbone, and some other relative bruising that looking like it was fading.

He went out, and started down the corridor. He was in trouble undoubtedly. Hopefully Professor-

"Harry!" a voice called, and he turned around, surprised, as Ron jogged up next to him.

They stood quiet for a moment.

"That was some really brilliant flying, yesterday."

Harry nodded, smiling inwardly.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you about the tree."

"That's alright. I knew, actually."

Ron blinked. "You KNEW? And you dove into it anyway?"

Harry smiled. "I like to fly."

Ron looked impressed. "The twins told me later when you were asleep that you were okay, and you weren't anything like Malfoy. He infuriates me. Everyone's talking about you, you know."

Harry didn't answer. "Why do you hate Malfoy so much?" Harry asked, out of curiosity.

Ron grimaced. "He killed my rat, Scabbers."

Harry choked. "Excuse me?"

The tall redhead nodded. "Had Crabbe step on him."

Ron stopped walking. "Is something wrong?" he asked, looking at Harry's face. Harry shook his head mutely. Ron shrugged. "Anyway, I came to tell you we're supposed to be going to McGonagall's office." He cringed.

Harry nodded.

Right before they got there, Ron turned to him again. "And Harry. Congratulations for winning. I'd be fine with you playing Quidditch with us any time." He grinned. "As long as you're on my team, of course."

Harry grinned back. "Thanks."

They walked in, grinning, and stopped in their tracks, under the accumulated glare of the entire staff.

Suddenly, they all started talking at once.

"Well it started when-"

"How DARE-"

"Extremely dangerous-"

"Never have I been witness to something more-"

"Out of bounds!"

"Into the WHOMPING WILLOW-"

"Aggravate the squid? How on earth-"

"You could have been killed!"

"Should be EXPELLED!"

"Now Severus, I'm sure-"

"You STUPID LITTLE MORONS!"

"Filch!"

"Quiet!" Dumbledore commanded, and they all turned to him. "Sit down."

Harry and Ron grabbed available chairs and shot each other alarmed looks.

They turned to face the onslaught of glares.

"I think Weasley should be expelled." Snape stated loudly.

McGonagall turned her glare to him. "And what about Harry?"

"Detention. And position as seeker on the house Quidditch team."

Harry jaw dropped. Snape just make me seeker . . . ?

"Neither is expelled." Dumbledore said firmly. "Though I hope you two understand- racing like that that really dangerous. You could have been hurt, or you could have hurt anyone on the shore." They nodded. "I trust it won't happen again?" They nodded again. "I will be assigning three hours detention next Friday. Both of you lose ten points. You may leave."

The slunk through back through the door.

"Bloody hell." Ron said.

"I can't believe Snape just made me seeker."

"Harry!" Dumbledore's voice came through the door. "Wait a moment outside while I finish talking to the professors."

Harry sighed and stopped.

"I'll wait for you." Ron said, and they leaned against, the wall. Slowly, the professors' voices wafted to their ears.

"What detention do you suppose, Professor?"

"Replace the stones in the wall that Long bottom combusted in the dungeons before this whole place comes down." Said Snape.

"Send them in the Forbidden Forest."

"Tudor Colin Creevey."

"Dust the Library."

"Build Hagrid a new hut."

"Help the house elves."

"Clean the Prefect bathrooms."

The Professors seemed to be really getting into it.

"Scrub the roof of the Astronomy Tower."

"Wash the First Years' bed linens."

Harry and Ron paled.

The Professors chuckled slowly.

"We'll see." Dumbledore said.

The staff left, passing by the two second years while sending them looks. Harry walked in slowing, sitting back down. "What was it you wanted Professor?"

Dumbledore smiled kindly. "Harry, I advise you to stay away from the lake from now on. The Squid doesn't like those of the Dark Pact, that's why we put them there. Spells tend to get washed away with water but if some dark creature tried to cross without our permission, then the Giant Squid would capture it. Unfortunately, this includes you."

Harry glanced down at his forearm, where a thin birthmark ran across it in precisely the same place it did his mother's. "I understand, Professor Dumbledore."

Dumbledore dismissed him and Harry hurried out.

* * *

After lessons that day...

Harry sat on his bed, petting Angel who was purring rather loudly. He was also really into his Phenomenons book, which turned out to be really interesting. The room was empty except for the boy, on the bed next to him, who finally turned around and held out his hand in greeting. "Hi." He said. "I'm Jarren Hawes."

Harry shook the hand. "Harry Potter."

Jarren was about medium height and width, with dark eyes and hair and fairly dark skin. He looked really friendly- he had been quiet so far, not talking much in class like Tracy and Queenie, whom he still hadn't talked to. The first time he had gone to Hogwarts, Jarren hadn't been there either, which meant that something must have happened this time around to change it.

"I heard you're our new seeker." He said. Harry nodded. "I hope you're as good as they say you are. I wasn't there, yesterday, I was in here." Harry remembered seeing Jarren's face among the Slytherins who had been in the common room . . .

"Hey Jarren." Harry said slowly. Jarren looked up. "A lot of the Slytherins are watching me. Do you know why?"

Jarren looked at him, face carefully blank. "You're the new Slytherin." He didn't offer any more, and Harry didn't ask. He had his mind on a letter. A letter he had just written, that was on the way to his parents house, right now . . .

* * *

Lunch the next day...

Harry sat at lunch alone eating. Actually, he wasn't alone he was sitting with Jarren on one side, and Draco had taken the other along with Crabbe and Goyle. But neither was much for conversation, and besides, Harry's mind was with others. He, Ron, and Hermione had hung around in the library yesterday, and the two had taken to each other well. He felt like everything was falling into place, his little world was finally righting himself. Draco hadn't talked to Harry much since he started hanging out with Ron and 'the mudblood', but nearly everybody else had, commenting on his flying. Apparently, the whole world had been watching his race with Ron. _Colin Creevey squeaked and ran in fear, but what was the harm in that?_

He relaxed, leaning back into his chair. Suddenly his stomach cramped in horror as he felt a familiar chill under his skin. No! He was starting to change . . . Harry got up, stumbling, and practically ran out of the Great Hall, door swinging after him. He sprinted down the halls with elven speed. Sure enough by the time he had reached the nearest bathroom and looked in the mirror, he had pointed ears, and wings were folding out of his back. Harry locked the door and leaned against the wall despairingly. He stared as his reflection, willing himself to change back.

_Human!_ He thought, and concentrated intently. Nothing happened. He shut his eyes, and dozed slightly. Something was bothering him, in the background noise. He shook himself awake. _Hey! I changed back!_

With a happy grin, Harry walked out and down the halls.

"What do you find so amusing, Potter?" An icy voice asked. Harry turned to face one of the older Hufflepuffs. "Nothing." He said. "Why?"

Crowds of students passed. _Is lunch over already?_

Someone grabbed his sleeve. It was Hermione. She pulled him quickly down one of the adjoining corridors, Ron following. They emerged into the library.

"Did you hear what happened?" She asked.

Harry shook his head. "What's going on?"

"Two first years were found in the third floor bathrooms. Petrified."

Harry froze. Everything went out of lucidity for a moment, and all he could hear were his own thoughts.

_It couldn't be._

_It just couldn't._

_But I prevented Lucius from giving the book to Ginny._

_Maybe that hadn't been so smart. At least then I knew where it was. Lucius must have given it to another student . . . but which one?_

"Petrified?" he rasped out.

Ron nodded. "Yeah. Stone cold an all."

Hermione grabbed his shoulders again. "Harry, why did you rush out of the Great Hall like that?"

Harry blinked. "Huh?"

"Where were you during the attacks. You ran out like something was chasing you."

Harry shook his head frantically. "No, I know what you're thinking. I swear it wasn't me!"

Ron shook his head. "No, I don't think it was you."

"Hermione?" Harry asked.

She sighed. "No, I don't think it was you either." She had a strange, glazed look in her eyes.

"But Harry." She continued. "If you didn't do it, then where were you and why did you rush out of the Great Hall right before the attacks?"

Harry felt icy. "I . . . just had to leave."

"Why?"

He didn't answer. "You guys know I didn't do it!"

Hermione nodded sadly. "Yes, but that's not what its going to look like to other people."

He couldn't tell anyone about him changing, so he couldn't explain WHY he hadn't been there. Oh damn.

* * *

Lily's POV

Lily was in the kitchen when a large snowy white owl came flying through the window, letter attached. With a smile, she detached the leter. Hedwig transferred to her shoulder. She could have sworn the owl had a vague human expression- she looked worried for some reason.

_Come on Lily_, she reasoned with herself. _ALL owls look worried._

Sh

e went into the living room, where James, Sirius and Remus were lounging on the couch.

"We got our first letter from Harry!" she said happily, and she turned abruptly. She opened it and started reading aloud.

"Dear Mum and Dad,

Good news! Two days of term and I'm already on the House Quidditch team. Bad news. It's the Slytherin Quidditch team. That's right . . . I got in Slytherin. I don't know why, I really don't. Please don't be mad.

I have some friends, Ron and Hermione, and Jarren, somewhat.

I also have three-hour detention on Sunday. Erm, I can explain, I swear. I got attacked by the Giant Squid and spent the night in the infirmary. We WERE racing brooms over the lake at the time, but it wasn't dangerous, honest! We just cut off the edge, from the Quidditch Pitch to the Whomping Willow. Which explains why I was in the Infirmary.

She stopped reading, looking up to meet the eyes of her husband.

"Slytherin?" he asked incredulously.

"It goes on," she said. "It talks about his friends, and his professors. Here. At the bottom- PS say hi to Remus and Padfoot for me."

She looked back up again. James just looks stunned, and Remus was maybe slightly amused. Sirius was hit the worst. He just sat and stared.

"How can Harry be in Slytherin?" he asked forlornly. "What happened to our little Gryffindor?"

James shook his head speechlessly.

"Well, that's new." Said Remus.

Lily gave a feeble smile. "Hey, Quidditch team, that's pretty good, isn't it?"

She got no answer.


	29. Shadows of Hogwarts

* * *

Shadows of Hogwarts

* * *

Harry's POV

His footsteps echoed loudly down the stone Hogwarts corridors, rebounding and assaulting his sensitive ears. Otherwise it was silent, and it was dark. The shadows whirled around him. They were the only animate things in the hall- twisting, turning, taking on an almost human form. They had a quality to them different than the rest of the scene, ethereal, unusual somehow.

There was a sound behind him, and Harry twisted around, pulling out a knife each hand. He stood still, crouched, but there was nothing there. His eyes roamed around, peering into the dark, ominous corners of the corridor. Slowly he turned around, and continued walking, only to stop for another sound- ragged breathing. Harry felt a tingle of fear.

There were soft, raspy scratching noises all round him. Where were they coming from? Harry looked around wildly. He gripped his knives so hard his hand started bleeding, but he didn't notice. The sound grew louder, growing closer.

"[Thssssssss . . . harchisssss. . ."

Harry stopped breathing, and whirled around into the other direction. The basilisk! He couldn't look . . . couldn't look . . _. don't turn around Harry, not now . . . "_[Bloooood . . . die . . . kill" the voice was directly behind him, the raspy breath on the back of his neck. _Don't turn around . . . he repeated to himself as a mantra._

"[Go away!" He pleaded, but there was no answer, only a strong sense of foreboding.

"[Tear . . . listen . . . dying . . .!" The Basilisk lisped in his ear and it drew closer still. The raspy, dry breathing was driving him insane. Without thought, he spun around ferociously to face his opponent, knives flashing. A large rough snakeskin coiled around his chest, tightening. Harry fought it, trying to breath. He shredded everything in distance with his whirling knives, which didn't penetrate the thick scales of the monster.

"Harry!"

Harry jerked. _Professor Snape? Where was he?_ He looked around, but there was no one there. The coils tightened, restricting his lungs. _Somebody help me! _He thought, and tried to push the words out of his mouth.

Everything started to get dark. "Harry!" Snape yelled again from somewhere.

* * *

Harry's POV, now awake...

A hand grabbed Harry's shoulder, and his eyes snapped open with a spasm. He sat up, and Professor Snape leaned back.

Harry felt smooth elven steel in his hand and he let it drop, heart still beating fast.

He was in his bed, in the Slytherin dorms, and Snape was sitting next to him trying to wake him up. Harry blinked, and looked around.

A nightmare. It had been so real.

Harry's head pounded with an intense headache. He squinted at his professor. "Professor Snape?" he asked.

"I came to pick you up. It's the first Quidditch practice, I need to introduce you to the team."

Harry blinked. "Oh, right."

"I'll be right outside."

Harry got dressed quickly, pulling on some simple black Quidditch robes over a long sleeved turtleneck shirt. He sat down to pull on his shoes.

It was a week since the attack. The school was abuzz. No accusations had been made, however. There had been no other attacks, either. Ron and Hermione had become closer. He had seen that coming. The three of them spent a lot of time in the library, and outside by the lake in neutral ground. Draco had been strangely silent about the whole thing, keeping to himself. The attacks hadn't been mentioned at all, and Hermione had loosened up. She stopped asking about where he had gone, not really accepting his quiet answers of "to get some air." and "for a walk.".

_I have to keep in control of my human form. It CAN'T happen again._

Harry's mind turned back to the basilisk. _Should I go confront it? First I have to figure out who it was who was controlling it this time. And keep clear of the basilisk. Nightmares aren't helping, either._

Harry strolled out, his headache was fading. With a nod, Severus strode ahead and up the steps, Harry following.

* * *

Severus's POV

They walked out the front of the Great Hall, and out to the Quidditch field. Several flying forms were seen, practicing, but they settled down into a group when the two came into view.

Severus glanced back. Harry's face was turned up; he was watching the last brooms lowering. _He looks a lot like James, true, but different. _The angles on his face were sharper, but exotic looking, and his hair was softer. The light would catch on his green eyes, which Severus could remember so well when he was a baby. Altogether, he didn't look that much like either of him parents, just a strange combination along with some features that were his alone.

They approached the Slytherin Quidditch team, who was looking on skeptically as the two walked up. Marcus Flint looked down at the second year.

"He's short." He said needlessly.

Snape nodded. "Yes, being lighter is an advantage for a Seeker."

Marcus grunted. "Why him." He said grouchily. "We have several possible Seekers in our house already."

Severus nodded condescendingly. "Yes, but he can fly. Now get to it."

* * *

Harry's POV

He walked away, and Harry resisted snickering.

Each of the Slytherins on the team was about twice his height, and none of them seemed very happy to see him there.

"So, you're on our team." Said Marcus.

"I guess so."

One of the others glared. "Just stay our of our way as we practice." They turned around and got on their brooms, zooming away. Harry felt hollow inside. _Who wants to win if it's for these people? _He thought to himself, and then sighed. It was Quidditch, which was enough for him. Looking around, his eyes fell on a box where the balls were kept. Searching though it, he found a small metallic snitch.

"Can I use this?" he yelled. One of the beaters, Bole, Harry remembered glanced over.

"School practice snitch. Don't you want to use one of the simpler, chasing snitches?"

Harry shook his head. _Next time, I'll bring my own snitch_. "This one's fine." He let it go, and it zoomed away, disappearing in the light. Harry got on his broom and soared up, following. He flew around the pitch several times, before seeing it under the stands. Without a thought, he went into a steep dive and spun around a pole, gabbing hold of agilely. Hmm, that didn't take long; he had caught it within ten minutes. Harry glanced around

None of the Slytherins had noticed a thing.

* * *

later 

Several hours later, they went up towards the school for breakfast. The others were sweaty and exhausted from running mindless drills, most, Harry noted, having not much to do with Quidditch and more to do with strength training. Harry was feeling confident and he played ping-pong with the snitch on the side of the stadium, using the wide, flat part of his broom.

They went through the doors of the Great Hall, and Harry blinked in surprise. The food was all cleared away and the students were sitting turned around in their seats to the front of the room, attentive. As they came through the door, heads turned in their direction. Harry saw Oliver Wood sneer at them from the Gryffindor table, and Harry slunk back quietly. The bulk of the beaters alone hid him, and he looked around with leisure.

The grand hall was filled with students, like it was at feasts. Every single student was there, which unusual for breakfast. There would always be people missing- studying, sleeping, playing Quidditch or whatever. They were silent, and the Professors were all at the staff table. Professor Snape got to his feet, looking over at the grungy, sweaty Slytherins in their dark robes. They obviously needed a shower and to change, but he motioned with his head to the Slytherin table anyway.

"Sit down. We're having a presentation." He ordered curtly. They lumbered over to the Slytherin tables. Some of the younger students scrambled around, clearing spaces under the glares of the Quidditch team. Harry snorted and picked a chair near the back end of the table, by some four years he didn't recognize. A first year girl was leaning on her elbow as Flint scraped into place next to her, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust, leaning away from the smell.

Dumbledore stood up, standing in front of the room. The students silenced, and Harry saw nothing but the back of people's heads.

"What's going on?" he whispered to the girl next to him.

She looked up, surprised. "Mad-Eye Moody." She said softly.

Harry's twitched. "Mad-Eye Moody? What's he doing here?"

"Students, boys and girls, the Staff." Dumbledore addressed the school. "We have the pleasure today of having a special presentation from one of the Ministry's top aurors. He took the time to come here and speak to you about some messages from the Ministry itself. Now, for this rare occasion, welcome Mad-Eye Moody." From the back of the Staff Table where Harry hadn't been looking, a man in a black cloak got to his feet. He stepped forward, pulling the hood of his cloak off as the Headmaster sat down.

"Ohmygosh." Said the fourth year to his left. All around the great hall, students gasped, breaking out into whispers over the aurors legendary scarred face.

He stood, glaring over all the heads, and Harry slunk down a bit in his chair. He hadn't seen Mad-Eye Moody since the banshee swamp. He sat back limply, trying not to be too obvious.

"I'm here on behalf of the ministry." He said gruffly, looking around the crowded room. "To address you on matters of safety."

Everyone looked at him. "Even though the Dark Lord is gone." Some people in the room shuddered. "There are still some very dangerous criminals running around. Some human. And some . . . not."

They were hanging on his very word, and Harry was feeling pale. They knew of RAVEN, not of Harry, so he was safe. And the only ones who knew the truth were Snape and Dumbledore. None of the other staff had ever been informed, to them Raven and Harry Potter were two different people. They practically were, when Harry changed he looked a bit different. When it came to facial features, that is, laying aside the wings, ears, and stature.

"You know of them as Dark Creatures. Vampires. Werewolves. Banshee." he emphasized the words.

For the next half and hour he went into detail on the dangers of all the dark creatures in turn. Harpies, selkies, orcs, sirens, naga . . .

"Banshees have sunken noses, huge hollow eye sockets. They wear a tattered sheet flapping around them, and have weeping red eyes. Their hair is long and scraggy. They wail outside the door of a person when they're dying. They wail for people who were gifted with the faerie arts, like singing, dancing, art, and music. They also wail for old wizarding families. A lot of the old pureblooded families have their own private banshee. If you think this is okay, then you're WRONG. It is suggested that some of these people would have lived. The banshees bring on death. They live in dark, muddy areas and plot against us. NEVER wander into a banshee invested area. They can be fought against, but it is hard. They have piercing voices that drive into your very skull and can induce you to madness. Their shriek penetrates everything. You can't hide, and you can't run. You're never safe."

Harry's eyebrow twitched. _What nonsense is he going on about? I lived with the banshees- I'm one myself! They looked just like normal people, mostly. _He looked around. The student's eyes were wide with fear. He's instilling hate, Harry realized. They believed it all. He probably believed in most of this himself.

"Next topic is the Lamia . . ." He went on about several more species that Harry had never heard of before, let alone seen or feared. Finally Moody picked up his bag, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Was he leaving?

"Before I leave, it is standard Ministry procedure to review all the wanted people on the Ministry's Most Wanted list."

Dammit. Oh well, it can't do any harm, Harry thought. Its not like they'd put me on their wanted list. Harry smiled mentally. Sirius, in this time, will never have to go to Azkaban, or be wanted . . .

"Guillaume, the French vampire, who slaughtered 27 people in a marketplace in Lyon . . ." Moody was displaying a large picture of a red-eyed pasty vampire. Worse, it was a picture that moved, and the teeth glinted menacingly at the students. A first year in the front squeaked. Moody disregarded their discomfort, but moved on to several more pictures in turn. The staff table behind him was spared, as they couldn't see what he was displaying. McGonagall leaned over to say something to Dumbledore, and Harry with his excellent hearing listened carefully.

"Is this really necessary, Dumbledore?" she murmured, eyes on Moody's back.

"All for the best, I'm sure." Dumbledore said. "I have little influence over what the Ministry orders about the school when they've got it in their minds, if it's not a big problem I just let it be."

Harry leaned back again, eyeing the empty table. _When did I last eat?_

"Raven." Moody said loudly, and smiled grimly. Harry's spine jerked and he froze, staring up at the old auror. "Saved for last."

This caught the students' attention, and they leaned forward in anticipation. Behind on the staff table, several of the professors noted the name, and discarded it, shooting a glance at the Potion's master. He sat eyes half closed, as if the name had brought memories. Which it probably had. Harry cursed silently. _They HAD put me on a Wanted List. Why would they do that?_

"Unlike the others, Raven isn't all that infamous. Except for in the Ministry's O.O.P. office." He didn't bother to explain what O.O.P. was. "For many years he has been the greatest mystery. Not all that much is known about him." He paused. "That's because, well, no one knows quite what he IS."

He strolled leisurely back and forth once. He held up a picture. It was completely realistic looking, with color, of a boy with lots of black hair, and from a distance the eye color was not apparent. "We first discovered him in a banshee swamp right after the demise of the Dark Lord. He had taken on the form of a young boy to fool us. Once close enough- he attacked."

The room was silent, as Moody appeared to be lost in a memory, eyes far away. "He has the voice of a banshee. He can turn into a werewolf at will. He's smart; he was plotting an ambush on us. We lost one of our number." He looked around. "Can you imagine, someone who can shapeshift like that? It wasn't a normal wolf animangi. It was a real werewolf, in the flesh. I was THERE." He let this settle in. "And several years later, he was spotted again."

Harry blinked.

"Over the years he has seen from a distance, around an area where people have disappeared. Body parts found. He has large, black wings and he flies around like a piece of the night. Oh he's a bad one, he is." Moody's eyes narrowed. "He's to be killed when found. We can't take any chances with the likes of him."

Harry felt an icy chill._ I didn't kill those people! _He wanted to stand up and scream to all of them. He couldn't. He couldn't move.

"I'll be leaving now." He said darkly, and packed up his bag, and slipped through the large double doors, disappearing.

The headmaster got up. "Well, that was interesting. Come along everyone, breakfast is over." He said briskly.

Harry's stomach growled loudly as everyone stood up in a rush and cleared out. A hand touched his shoulder, and he turned around. "Thought you'd be hungry." Tracy said, handing over a napkin. The rich aroma of bacon wafted through it, and Harry grinned wolfishly. "Thanks." He said, and she hesitated, before smiling back. She had a strange look in her eyes, and Harry could tell she was considering him carefully as she looked at his face. _What is she thinking about?_ They silently walked to their first class of the day, Transfiguration, as Harry consumed the bacon. Their paths crossed with Ron and Hermione. Seeing them, Harry grinned. He could tell they were suspicious of him, still. He pushed it from his mind.

* * *

after classes that day

Harry leaned against the corridor wall where he was standing with Ron and Hermione. "So what do you think this "Monster of the Chamber" is?" Ron asked.

The hall was fairly empty, just a few people walking by, not enough to overhear them talk.

"What about the message on the wall . . . 'Enemies of the heir, beware.' Who would the hair be?" Hermione wondered. They both looked to Harry, who had a strange look on his face.

"Harry?" Ron asked.

"I don't know." He said.

"It's got to be one of the Slytherins." Ron said, and glanced at Harry. "No offense."

"None taken."

"Do you even know where most of the Slytherins spend their time? They're always gone . . . somewhere. Do they really stay in the common room the entire time?"

"No."

"Exactly. It's like they're a completely different school, or something. I wonder what they're up to. It's suspicious. They never talk to anyone, always talking to themselves, don't you find it strange-"

"- Hello." A voice cut in, and Ron was surprised to find Tracy at his elbow. He blinked. "Oh." He said stupidly.

She smoothly turned to Harry, who was still leaning against the wall. "I think it'd be best if you came with me," she said, taking hold of his sleeve.

Harry looked at her. She looked back right into his eyes for once, and she motioned her head down the hall. "All right." He said, and pushed himself up to follow her.

Tracy walked past Ron, who then raised his eyebrows at Harry. 'What's going on?' he mouthed, and Harry shrugged. He could feel Hermione and Ron watching his back as he left, wondering why Tracy was so familiar with him. _Damn, _Harry thought. _Now they'll think I'll have something to do with the whole Slytherin conspiracy thing Ron thinks exists._

They crossed the path of a fifth year Slytherin, who seemed surprised to see them. Opened his mouth to say something.

"Shhhhhh!" she ordered sternly. Something lit in his eyes and he went off briskly in the other direction.

She led him down through the dungeons. The approached the corridor that led to the common room, yet walked yet further. It grew darker, and the air became moist. She stopped in a dark corner.

"Occultus." She ordered. The wall swung away, revealing a dark cold stone stairway. Harry eyed it.

"Where are we?" he asked.

She smiled. "It's okay, just go down."

Harry looked down into the inky blackness. His eyes adjusted, and he walked smoothly through the dark, and the wall swung shut behind them encasing them in complete night.

"Wow, you're sure footed." She murmured. Harry grinned.

Suddenly they faced a door, and Harry reached out and opened it, walking into a well-lit room. Tracy gave him a strange look.

"It took me a year to figure out when the door came, I was always running into it." She rubbed her nose in memory.

Harry didn't answer. In the room, facing him, were all the people that he had seen in the Slytherin common room after the twin's prank. All eyes were on him. The door behind him shut soundly.

"Er . . . hi?" he said.

Tracy passed by him and sat down with the others. Harry blinked and looked around the room. The walls were stone like the common room, and everything was in a dark green, almost black. The walls were covered with shelves, and several doors on the far wall stood closed. There were several large, soft looking couches arranged around the room in a semicircle. Harry's attention was brought back to the Slytherins sitting on the couches, staring at him.

A dark figure walked forward, and Harry recognized him as the same sixth or seventh year who had talked to Tracy when she had tried to tell him something.

"Let me introduce myself." He held out a hand. "Alexander Lestrange, seventh year."

Harry raised an eyebrow, taking the offered hand. "Harry Potter, second."

"Yes I know." Alexander said briefly. "You recognize the name."

Harry nodded.

They stood in silence.

"You're probably wondering why we brought you here, and where we are. We are underneath Hogwarts, way beneath the dungeons. And we brought you here to introduce ourselves." Alexander received no reaction.

"Slytherin house has always stood alone, set in its ways." He continued. Then he smirked. "We're . . . defecting."

"Defecting?"

Alexander nodded. "We call ourselves the Shadows of Hogwarts."

He gestured to the room. "The Shadows was started by one of the older students, Alicia Hardway, when I was in third year. When she graduated, she left me in charge." He stepped backward. "Come sit down."

"Most of the Slytherins follow their parents. Those of us here are the ones that don't want to be known by the actions of our parents." He stopped. "Take Draco Malfoy, from your year, for example. He's exactly the type of person we are against. The other half of the Slytherins and the rest of the school. We stand alone. We watch for ourselves, figure out everything on our own, and trust no one else. And this room, it was just a normal stairway and some adjoining chambers. We put up spells around it, so it couldn't be detected. No one knows we're here. Call it a- headquarters of sorts." He added. "We've been watching you."

"I know." Harry interrupted.

"You noticed?" Alexander raised an eyebrow over his shoulder. Some of the Slytherins shrugged. "We wanted to see if you were one of us- or one of them. We try to stay inconspicuous- you don't really follow that. But as its not your fault you're on the Quidditch team, we decided that if we were stereotyping against you, it would be just as the other houses are doing to us."

Harry suddenly noticed Alexander was fingering his wand, and he eyed it.

"So, what's it gonna be, Harry Potter." Alexander accentuated his name.

He stood still. "I'm interested."

"Right." He smirked. "Well then, you wouldn't mind if we asked you a few questions, would you?"

"Not really."

Alexander wheeled around. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the Chamber of Secrets, would you?" He twirled his finger around his wand.

"Er, no."

"You know nothing? The group feels that it is a matter of importance to us all."

"Nothing about the Chamber of Secrets, no." _Of course I did_. _How was I supposed to say that? 'Yep, I know lots about it. I know where it is. I even know what's inside, and how it can be defeated . . . I guess you could say I'm an expert.'_ Harry held back a smile, thinking of their faces.

Alexander looked slightly suspicious._ Damn, can't I get a break? _Harry wondered. _SOMEBODY TRUST ME ALREADY!_

Finally he held out a hand to Harry. "Welcome to the Shadows of Hogwarts, then."

_Hmm. Ron was right, for once. _Harry took the hand.


	30. Ghost Beings

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ghost Beings

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry sat in the middle of the Slytherin Common room, working on his Charms Essay, which was due in a couple days. The room was filled with voices, and people moving around excitedly. Harry sat alone, not showing any excitement. Lost in thought, he scribbled on a blank piece of paper, drawing little designs. One was replicated from the hem of Saber's wife, Leaf's, favorite coat.

The excitement was for a reason, and this was also the reason he was deep in thought. The Halloween Feast was that night. Harry could clearly remember his second year- he had skipped the Halloween Feast to go to Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party _. . . well I certainly wasn't invited this time, and I'm certainly not going_. Several things were bothering him- one, the Quidditch match that was to take place in several days, between Gryffindor and Slytherin, in which he would be playing. Two, the Shadows of Hogwarts, who had an eye on him, and foremost number three, the fact that that night, someone was to be due to be petrified. Somewhere out in the school was the diary, and somewhere behind that diary was a person who was setting a monster on the students at Hogwarts. He had spent hours just walking quietly around the school, listing to conversations in the library, for any clue. He had found nothing- he hadn't heard any sign of the basilisk, or who might be behind the attacks.

Harry's mind danced around the idea of going to Dumbledore, telling him where the Chamber was. But how would explain how he knew? He wasn't allowed to tell anyone that he had traveled through time, or had his memories sent back, or whatever it was called. But if he didn't tell- what about the others? Could he reveal the hidden entrance, the monster, and the means of the Chamber of Secrets, without revealing or incriminating himself? He sighed. He just couldn't see a way. If he tried something, like leaving an anonymous letter, Dumbledore would find out somehow.

But, perhaps, he could prevent it from happening by himself. Which brought him back to the diary.

He was going to go to the Halloween Feast, of course. At first he'd wanted to be out and about in the halls, so he could prevent the attack when it came, but look at what had happened last time. People were already suspicious of him, and if he were in the Great Hall during an attack then they would know it wasn't him.

Who knows, there might not even be an attack! Things were so different this time. In truth, he had no reason to NOT go to the feast.

Packing up his stuff, he went to the second year dorms, tossing his schoolwork aside. Flopping over on his stomach on the bed, he pulled out a book to read, the one on the Dark Pact. He flipped to his bookmark, near the beginning of the banshee section. He came across a chapter that fully explained the powers of a banshee. Interested, he read. There was the power in a voice, as well as the ability of precognition, and another thing he had experienced- traveling through the ghost world.

"No one knows exactly what happens, the banshees don't share their secrets. They simply fade away. Usually after coming to the door of someone's house and wailing, or if someone turns to confront them, they simply disappear. They are spirits, in a literal sense. Some theorists claim that they might live together in communities, as there are places where banshee sightings are concentrated. This is believed by most to be rather far fetched. Banshees are known to live in some other realm, and sometimes contact each other while on our physical plane. The concentration of banshees is easily explained- they may have places they tend to gravitate towards when on this plane, perhaps stopped places or meeting places. Thus, the disappearing act of the banshees is held in high curiosity to those who study dark creatures and those of the dark pact. One in particular, a Deimonologist (pronounced 'dai-mon-ologist'- Deimon meaning the Dark Pact or knowledge thereof) Jason Wolfsbane has done extensive study . . ."

Later...

Harry woke, face pressed against his book. The green lights in his room had gone dark, and the voices were gone. Silently he got to his feet, looking around the room for any sign of his dorm mates. He was slightly unsteady, and he felt kind of woozy. He stumbled forward, coming to a wall. He stretched out both hands, and placed them flat against the wall, leaning to catch his balance.

Harry remembered his dream, parts of it were replaying in his mind . . . the basilisk in the dark, coming for him, he couldn't see where it was, if he looked he would die . . . He woke slightly. _What was going on? Where was everybody?_

The air was still and quiet and Harry padded up the dark stairs. The green lights in the hall flared to light, stinging his eyes. Squinting, he rushed up, coming out into the Common room. It was entirely empty, dark except for the pale green glow, lighting Harry up from behind.

_The Halloween feast . . ._ he had fallen asleep! _It must have already started._ Harry started to run out, then stopped. _Do I really want to be wandering the halls, where I could be caught at some crime scene?_

_Yes. I have to get to the Great Hall._

He sprinted through the corridors, up staircases. At one point he stopped. He had the strange feeling of being watched._ The Basilisk? Was it out here? _He hesitated, uncertain, then continued. Sprinting, he reached his previous speed and just barely slowed down just before reaching the door to the Great Hall. He strolled in.

Harry looked around. The Hall was magnificent- the velvet black sky was smattered with stars, the spooky glowing jack-o-lanterns, and dark decorations. The feast was drawing to an end. Everybody was eating desserts, leaning sleepily in their chairs while chatting. Some glanced in his direction as he casually sat down next to Draco.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked.

Draco looked up from his pie. "Eh? Oh, you fell asleep and I thought I would just let you be. Tracy saved some food for you though." He nodded across the table where Tracy was sitting. He hadn't talked much to Tracy and the other Shadows, besides the usual. They seemed to have meetings that didn't include him- he guessed he wasn't a real member yet, or something. She handed him a plate filled with food- rolls, meat, and other things.

"I always end up saving you food, Harry. For somebody as hungry as you are, you'd think you would come to meals sometimes."

Harry shrugged.

Before it happened, Harry's back tensed up, and he hunched, listening. He was aware of something approaching, and when it came, reality came rushing back to him in a horrifying surge.

A high, terrified scream tore through the Grand Hall. Some students who had probably left earlier returned. The one who screamed, a Hufflepuff girl, ran in, shrieking. She tripped on the bottom of her robe, sprawling. She threw her head up. "Attack!" she yelled. Dumbledore and the staff rushed over to her, and she pointed wordlessly. She squeaked something and the staff left with the panicked students. The others from the feast got up and flowed through the door behind them, following.

_Well, can't say I didn't expect anything._ Harry told himself.

He got to his feet and started off into the crowd, wondering who had been hit this time.

The attacks had started earlier this year, Harry thought. I wonder why that could be.

A hand grabbed his sleeve, and he stopped, turning his head. Tracy pushed her way up next to him. "I'm coming with you." She said. She gripped his arm against the push of the other students, and they moved forward. They moved up a large staircase, and into a narrow hall lined with standing suits of armor. In the middle, keeled over on the floor, was-

"Professor Kettleburn!" Professor McGonagall rushed forward, kneeling down next to the petrified professor. His eyes were staring forward in shock, and one hand lay spread out over half of his face, fingers arched. He had his other hand curled to his chest, holding a bundle of papers.

Everyone stared. The Hall was filled with students, going far back on either direction. They started whispering, and word traveled down the hall, to the very back where they couldn't see what was going on.

The way we're all crammed together in this hallway, Harry thought, feeling a bit claustrophobic. Is like one large trap . . . you couldn't move even if you wanted to.

Professor Dumbledore stepped gravely over to the nearest suit of armor. "Did you see what happened here?" He asked, looking expectantly toward the armor. It didn't move.

"Excuse me-" Dumbledore stretched out his hand and touched the metal shoulder.

Slowly, the armor fell over. Not like a person, but like a stiff board. It hit the floor. And shattered.

Everyone stared in shock. The impact rattled the ground, and the nearby suits of armor started to fall over as well. A chain reaction went down both sides of the hall as the suits of armor fell like dominoes, shattering. People shrieked, jumping to the middle of the hall, drawing a way from the bits of flying metal, which looked like ice. Nobody could move as they were caught between the falling suits of armor and sharp edges. A chunk hit Tracy in the arm, and she yelped. A shard went right for Harry's eye, and he ducked quickly. It bounced harmlessly off someone's back. The sounds of crashing and cracking ice died down, replaced by silence and some quiet whimpering.

Harry, close enough, heard Dumbledore speak, "Petrified. They've all been petrified." The staff stared at him.

"The ARMOR?" McGonagall asked, horrified.

He drew up to his full height, and announced, his commanding voice echoing through the narrow passageway. "Professor Kettleburn will be carried to the hospital wing. Everyone who was injured, go to Madam Pomfrey. Everybody else, to your Common Rooms." He said no more, dismissing everyone by turning his back.

Everyone left the hall as soon as possible, now devoid of the grand shiny suits of armor that had stood there. Once out, were shoving and milling about. Harry suddenly found himself surrounded by a group of older students, glaring down at him.

"So where was the great Harry Potter during the attacks?" One shouted over the noise. People quieted down, crowding around to look.

"I fell asleep." Harry said, feeling surreal. He gazed at them blankly.

"Oh really?" Someone shoved him from behind, and he stumbled forward.

Tracy scowled. "Just leave him alone, he didn't do it."

"Prove it."

"I can't," he objected. "I was sleeping in my dorm room-"

"Let me guess, all alone?" Someone shouted form behind, picking up the cause.

More shouting followed.

"Well we know the heir has to be a Slytherin, right?"

"Harry Potter's always gone- who knows where he always is?"

"What about the first attack? Where was he then?"

"You're right! He rushed out, just before!"

Harry stood still. "I didn't do anything!' he yelled at them, and tried to push through, but many hands shoved him back. Harry looked up.

Ron and Hermione stood at the end of the crowd. They didn't say anything; they just looked at the predicament he was in, listing to the shouts. Their eyes met. They stood for a moment, looking at each other. Tiredly, the two pushed forward.

"Come on, just let him be. He wasn't the only one not in the feast." Tracy, Hermione and Ron surrounded him, escorting him out of the crowd.

"Are you hurt?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head.

"What about you guys?" Hermione shook her head, no.

"Nicked my ear." Ron said. "I'll be fine."

Tracy lifted her arm, a bloody cut on the forearm. "I'll be going to Madam Pomfrey to have this taken care of." Ignoring the others, she gave Harry a one armed hug. "See you later, Harry. Take care." She disappeared into the crowd.

"Er, bye." Ron said. Ron and Hermione glanced at him and then left, splitting to go to their houses.

Harry sighed. _This is not good,_ he thought.

* * *

Harry's POV, the next morning 

Harry hadn't had any classes with Professor Kettleburn- he wouldn't be starting Care of Magical Creatures until next year . . . and wasn't Kettleburn planning on retiring? He knew the old professor, but only from seeing him around and from tales of his strange creatures from the older students.

Harry's first class in the morning was Defense Against the Dark Arts. He made his way to the classroom, among whispers. Upon entering the class, he saw not only Professor Sage but also a tall man with dark hair slightly graying in the front, and piercing gray eyes. He leaned casually against the wall, watching the students enter.

Harry watched him silently, trying to figure out who he was. The man seemed at ease while the class filled with students, but he was not looking in their direction. Some type of presentation, then? Harry didn't like presentations, and no wonder, after Moody's.

Finally, class was starting, and Professor Sage moved around to the front of the classroom. The man looked out over the students, watching them. He got to Harry, and blinked, startled. Fame again, Harry thought. But, reaching up to cover his scar with some errant bangs, but it was already covered. What had caught the man's attention, then? He seemed genuinely surprised, and he gave Harry an inquiring look before turning his gaze to the class as a whole, and picking up a welcoming smile.

"This is a dear friend of mine." Professor Sage said. "Jason Wolfsbane. Last night I rush-owled him, and luckily he managed to come on short notice. He will be taking over Care of Magical Creatures until Professor Kettleburn will be able to return." She seemed sad for a moment, and then lifted her head. "But as he has no classes as of yet, and you won't have Care of Magical Creatures until next year, I thought it would be a shame if his visit was put to waste. Ill let him introduce himself, and what he does."

The class leaned for ward, interested, and a thought struck Harry. _Where had he heard the name before? Jason Wolfsbane, Jason Wolfsbane . . ._

The newly appointed Professor Wolfsbane pulled up a chair and grinned amicably at them._ He seems like a nice guy,_ Harry thought. He had something slightly indifferent in his gray eyes, though, as if he were evaluating everything, examining it as it came before his eyes.

"My name is Jason Wolfsbane, and I'm a Deimonologist, which means that I study a certain category of Dark Creatures that you will probably not learn about for quite awhile yet, it's extensive study if I'm not mistaken. Which means Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures are my specialty. I have made some theories that are rather significant in the scientific world. Scientific meaning of course, the science of magic, and its works. One of the more interesting aspects of magic is its origin. We, as wizards and witches, are capable of collecting and storing magic within ourselves, and over the years we have become quite proficient in using it, but we don't actually make it ourselves. Muggles and most animals simply aren't made to store magic. Magic itself comes from the earth. The creatures we know as Magical creatures, are often like us, cable of storing magic. Some even have the ability to create magic themselves, such as unicorns and the like."

The class was paying close attention. Nobody really bothered to talk about where magic came from, it was simply just there, unquestioned. They had never heard anything like this. Harry hadn't either, actually.

He spent the rest of the period going on like this, explaining some important magical theories. Nothing incredibly interesting however, and the class grew slightly bored until he said with a grin, "Just wait until we've gone over these- then we do some practical work. I may even have your class come along with some of my older students, yes? Our fields tend to overlap sometimes."

"I think he's just strange." Tracy said. She walked out the door, and Draco and Harry followed her.

"True. He's famous though." Draco added, and they turned to him.

"Famous?" asked Harry.

"Yeah. My father mentioned him; he says the man is a genius. He wants to get to know him, maybe employ him or something, which says a lot considering my dad only wants the best. I don't know why he wants him though."

"Could it have something to do with his field of study?" Tracy asked, drawing her eyebrows together.

"Maybe. Deimonology, or whatever it is." He shrugged. "So, Harry, are you nervous?"

Harry blanked. "Nervous?"

"Your first Quidditch match is tomorrow!" Draco reminded him, disbelievingly.

"Oh. Yeah. Not really," Harry said. "I can win." Harry had forgotten all about his Quidditch match.

"Do you even know whom you're up against?" came an unexpected voice from behind him. Harry turned his head, and saw a large burly Gryffindor.

"Eh, no, actually." Harry said.

"The best team in the school. Nobody can beat their Seeker, Arthur Danes. His father flies for the Montrose Magpies. Arthur' been flying since before he could walk."

Harry didn't answer. This Arthur Danes is only the best seeker because I'm not there, he told himself. Harry shrugged and turned away. The other growled slightly as Harry turned his back on him.

"Just wait and see." The Gryffindor said and walked away.

"Better get some sleep." Tracy advised. "Based on today, you'll need it."

Draco grumbled. "Gryffindors."

* * *

The Next Day 

Harry pulled at the sleeves of his green Quidditch robes. The whole thing was rather itchy, and several sizes too large. Harry was standing anxiously at the door of the Slytherin locker rooms, peeking out at where the crowd waited. Someone shoved him from behind, and he was pushed outside onto the pitch, followed by his team members.

Lee's voice boomed out over their heads. "On the Gryffindor side, Wood as Captain, Spinnett, Bell, Johnson, Weasley, Weasley, and our very own Danes!" Cheers exploded throughout the stadium. Harry felt like he was back at his first Quidditch Match ever. Not since then had he felt so misplaced on the Quidditch Pitch.

"And the Slytherins, Flint, Pucey, Warrington, Montague, Derrick, and Bole. And Potter." There were some halfhearted cheers from the Slytherin stands, which were not quite full. The Shadows were there, Harry caught glimpses of them but most of the Slytherins had decided not to show up to watch what they expected- the humiliation of their team losing, again.

The captains stepped forward to shake hands. Harry shielded his eyes from the sun with one, gloved hand, peering at them. Oliver grinned, taking in the crowd. "Hello." He said in an amicable voice. He gazed around shortly. "Ah yes, your new seeker." He looked at Harry sizing him up. "Lets see if the rumors about him are true. Shame you wouldn't win, anyway." He strode back a bit, confident. _Same old Wood._

The signal came for them to kick off, and Harry pushed himself into the air, soaring above the head of the others quickly on his Nimbus 2000. He wheeled around to watch the start of the game. The snitch, hovering in the air, did a few small circles before seemingly vanishing into thin air. Peering around, Harry saw it whiz around the corner of a goal post.

Danes was short, though a bit lanky and quite a bit taller than Harry. He was thin with a very triangular face and close-set eyes and a mop of short wavy brown hair that tumbled over his forehead. He had a small tan, but his nose was sunburned. He stopped his broom for a moment, a move that swung him forward like a carnival ride swing, and peered at Harry

Cheers echoed through the stadium as Gryffindor gained possession of the quaffle. It was passed around several times, the Slytherin chasers in pursuit before it was easy tossed through the middle goal.

"Gryffindor scores!" Lee's voice boomed out. Harry wheeled around and turned his back to them, searching the Gryffindor goalposts where he had last seen the snitch. Danes moved higher, circling. He ignored Harry, taking no notice of the second year. Gryffindor had the quaffle again, and scored twice in succession.

"Gryffindor 30, Slytherin 0!" Cheers got louder. Sighing, Harry hovered lower. Did the Slytherin team have absolutely no strategy?

Angelina had the quaffle, and she turned toward the Slytherin goal posts where Pucey waited. Except Harry was there. She swerved to the right to get around him, and almost collided with Flint. Flint stole the quaffle, and wheeled around dropping below the others and coming up on Wood from an angle. Wood was ready, leaning forward slightly and watching Flint's moves. Flint launched the quaffle. It hit the arm Wood had stretched out to stop it and rolled over, hitting the goalpost before bouncing off and escaping through the left goal. Wood's eyes opened wide.

The Gryffindor supporters were silent for a moment, and then there were some loud boos. The Slytherins got to their feet, yelling. There were chants of "Flint" and "Potter". The Gryffindor supporters glared.

The Slytherins seemed to take this as a signal and started to take up some strategy. This time they managed to pull off several sneaky maneuvers, pushing the chasers around and sending the bludgers haphazardly. Barely legal, but in the next ten minutes or so they made two goals, and the Gryffindor team two as well, so they were only ten points behind. Harry grinned, watching Danes.

Danes was calm, not really paying any attention to the game, or his opponent seekers antics. He circled wider, swerving in and out of the stadium supports. Harry watched attentively for the snitch, keeping his eye out for any sudden movement from Danes.

Cheers exploded, and Harry looked down. The Gryffindors had formed into a large formation and were bearing down on Pucey. The chasers were in a little triangle, with Angelina on the left, Katie on the right, and Alicia right behind with the quaffle. Fred wielding a club stayed right behind them, and he shot a bludger at Warrington, who was approaching. George was a bit a head of them, and then stopped, a rock around the Slytherins couldn't move. The formation shifted and the five drew around in a half circle before the twins moved backwards behind them. The chasers shot the quaffle at each other rapidly, so fast that Harry had a hard time following it where it was going. Pucey spun, trying to keep up with them. Eventually he became lost and before he could turn and block, Katie had scored. Harry turned his attention away again to look at the field. _Where is the snitch . . .?_

Screams and boos filled the Quidditch Pitch. Derrick, Slytherin beater, had fouled Angelina who'd had the quaffle, almost throwing her into the air, hitting the front part of her broom with his club as she moved in front of him. Lee let them all know what he though of this while the Angelina lined up for a foul shot. Harry rolled his eyes. They didn't need to foul, if they simply had some strategy they could give the other team a run for the trophy. He seriously doubted he could convince his teammates of that, though. Angelina's throw soared right into the hoop.

_Still no snitch . . ._

The Slytherins had acted before the Gryffindors knew what had happened, taking the quaffle and speeding down the field. Wood moved to stop them, and barely managed to stop them. The chaser narrowed their eyes on both teams, practically growling at each other.

Harry looked at the other team. Fred and George . . . Alicia . . . the others . . . even Wood, back again to play. His friends. He felt a pang of loss. Normally it would be him everyone was rooting for, his friends grinning at him from the team, moving to win. The Gryffindors pulled further into the lead. As Arthur Danes moved upward again, Harry moved down, searching below the game instead of above it as usual. If things kept going as they were, in about half an hour the Gryffindors would be too far ahead for even the snitch to save.

Several minutes later, Danes tucked into a deep dive, speeding downward. The game stopped as everybody watched in anticipation as he shot towards the golden twinkle that hovered over the ground far on the Gryffindor side of the pitch. He moved in on it and within seconds he was several feet away.

Out of nowhere, suddenly Harry darted up from below, swerving up and in front of Danes. _The snitch is right there!_ Reaching out, his hand was around it as Danes collided with him from behind, unable to stop, and the two of them plowed into the ground, leaving a deep skid mark.

The whole stadium was deadly silent, jaws dropped. Slowly the pile on the ground stirred, and the two seekers sat up. Harry grinned.

The Slytherins all jumped on their seats in shock, screaming and cheering suddenly in the still air.

The Gryffindors just stared. They had lost.

* * *

That night... 

Harry lay in his bed, the only one awake. The day had been exhausting. After his win, Madam Pomfrey insisted that he come to the Infirmary, considering it was HIS face that had created the huge furrow in the ground. She could find nothing wrong with him, however, and gave him a potion to combat bruises and small cuts.

The Slytherins had not won a Quidditch match in a while, and they congratulated him, cheering him on in the halls and shaking his hand in the common rooms. Harry grinned at them, and tried to slip away but no one would let him. Some of the older Gryffindors seemed malevolent, and they glared and moved in his direction every once in a while. The rest of the day a group of Slytherins, including Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and some older students had crowded around, making sure that nothing happened to him. Harry snorted, remembering that it had once been the other way around.

Still he couldn't seem to fall asleep. It was late, even by his standards. Feeling too much energy in his limbs he climbed to his feet. Fury stretched on the bed and moved onto his pillow, sinking her claws in deep. He would have a hell of a time trying to remove her when he came back.

He pulled on some normal pants and a pair of boots, grabbing a muggle-style sweatshirt with a hood for warmth and pulled it over his top instead of changing completely. Quietly, he left the dorms and the common rooms, moving into the castle.

He prowled the darkness of the halls; sure that no one would be out this late. He didn't pass Filch anywhere, and he took a shortcut to the kitchens. It was devoid of houseelves, who were all sleeping, but there was stored food, which Harry looked through. He decided he wasn't hungry, and he left without taking anything. Somewhere an old grandfather clock was chiming but he didn't count the chimes. A soft murmuring was rolling along the walls and past him. Harry shivered.

He crept closer, and the eerie cryptic murmuring slowing grew louder, growing. A labyrinth of corridors stretched in front of him, going into dark infinity somewhere down the gray stone walls. Harry bent his kneels and walked in the shadows, sure that no one would see him. He came across a passageway to the right and he went to down it.

" . . . y-y-yes . . ."

" . . . don't . . . here . . .alone . . ."

There was a candle, creating a small yellow glow and sending the walls into sharp relief. It stood on a simple ledge on the wall. In front of it, two ghostly specters hovered, light going right through them.

"Peeves- what did I tell you?"

"I'm sorry, my lord-"

Peeves the Poltergeist and the Slytherin ghost, the Bloody Baron, hovered, facing each other. The Baron had his back to Harry, and Harry could see Peeves' face over the Baron's shoulder. Blood was dripping off the Baron's shoulder, glinting silver before disappearing somewhere on its way to the floor. It oozed down his robes, and Peeves flinched back slightly.

Harry tried to make sense of what they were talking about. Peeves had gotten on the wrong side of the Slytherin ghost somehow, going somewhere that the Baron had told him where off limits. There was something there that Peeves shouldn't have seen.

Everything started to kind of faze out of focus. Harry's vision got misty. Was he falling asleep? He tried to push away the weight on his eyelids. He stumbled forward, out of the dark, and right up to the two ghosts, who looked at him his shock. Peeves jerked back, terrified. Harry looked at his hands. They faded out of view, until he could see through them. He was just as ghostly as the Bloody baron standing in front of him, but his hands seemed blurred, not as definite as the lines of the ghost. Looking up into the Baron's surprised eyes, he reached out and touched the ghost's shoulder. The blood felt slick on his fingertips.

The world around them shifted, the light from the candle suddenly cut off and the hall going completely dark. Harry had a feeling that they weren't in the corridor anymore. The Baron was not recognizable past the point that he looked like a blue sphere of light, and he was surrounded my other spheres of light. They passed him, floating along to unknown destinations. The rest were all whites of different hues.

The only time anything like this had happened to him before was when he was at the banshees . . . he had gone completely translucent, and had entered the ghost world, where ghosts were nothing but floating spirits and he could fly without wings, and appear somewhere else.

The Baron light was floating in little circles, and instinctively Harry reached out and grabbed it. It was fairly solid in his hand, and as he watched the color changed from blue to white, with a slight reddish tinge. He let go, and it flew away.

* * *

A few minutes earlier, Peeves's POV 

Peeves cowered back from the fury in the Baron's eyes. _I didn't mean to, I really didn't! He had been looking for something interesting to throw at McGonagall and he had forgotten, floating through several stone walls before entering a place which he had never seen before, dark and dingy, with many-_

Realizing where he was, he had run. The Baron had found out, and tracked him down.

"I won't tell anyone what I saw, my lord!" he promised.

"And if Dumbledore commands you?" The Baron inquired.

"Never-" he was going to go on, but at that moment something leaped at them out of the shadows. It was ghostly, with glowing green eyes and a shifty body. It was looking at them, eyes boring into their very souls. With a squeak Peeves pulled back, and the Baron and turned to see what the awful thing was.

_What IS it?_ It was part shadow, part ghost, and moved with a graceful fluidity. The Baron's eyes popped with recognition and he opened his mouth, about to say something. The Thing reached out and took a hold of him, and they disappeared. It wasn't until they were gone that the Baron's words drifted back to him.

"It's a b-" The last sounds that the ghost had made faded from the halls, and Peeves fled.

* * *

Harry's POV 

His feet touched down on hard ground. _What just happened?! _Something had drawn him toward the two ghosts. Harry thought back to what Harmony had told him about the spirit world.

_Some people become ghosts, _he reasoned. _And most people just move on. The spirit world is probably where they moved on to . . . and it's the banshees job to warn certain people, and therefore they're connected to the spirit world . . . somehow. Or something._ Harry really didn't know. _Probably, _he thought, _I just brought the Baron over to the spirit world, and he became one of them. When I came back, I ended up . . . _he looked around. He was in his dorm room, right in front of his bed.

_The last time I moved from the banshee swamp to the forest where the faeries were, when traveling though there. So maybe the spirit world touches everything, so you can come out anywhere you want. Pretty useful._

Harry, now done in, flopped over on his bed, pulling his boots off, and fell asleep.

When he woke in the morning, he had a plan.

The next day...

Harry was holding a messy chicken leg. He dug his teeth into it, pulling the meat of the bones, while watching the people in the room. It was dinnertime in the Great Hall, and everything was as it should be. Except for some things, of course.

"So what do you think Peeves is up to?" Draco asked. "Everyone's right- he's never been quiet for this long. Nobody has even seen him all day."

Harry bit into his chicken and didn't answer.

Tracy, seated on his other side, leaned forward. "And the Bloody Baron." She said softly. "Maybe its just a coincidence because you don't always see him, but he's gone the entire day Peeves is."

"So do you think The Bloody Baron has something to do with Peeves' disappearance?" Draco asked, interested.

"Maybe." Tracy said. "Or maybe they're planning something." She said mysteriously. Those in earshot (Draco, Jarren, and Harry) looked thoughtful. Or feigned thoughtful. Those others in earshot (Crabbe and Goyle) stared blankly or picked mashed potatoes out of their eyebrows.

"Are you going to be in the common room later, Harry?" Draco asked. "Professor Flitwick's essay on the Gadfellow Theory is the most ridiculous bit of homework I've had to do in my life. Who cares about some senile guy talking about the direction of wood grain. I can't even tell which way the grain on my wand is going."

Harry shrugged. "I couldn't fall asleep last night, I'm completely worn out. Ask Tracy. I think I'm going to go lay down, at least for a while." He got up and left, his leftover plates disappearing into the table. At the door, he could hear Draco talking.

"I've never seen Harry tired, ever."

"So what, do you think he's faking it?" Tracy asked.

"I don't know, probably."

"Well don't condemn him for that, he probably just doesn't want to help someone has blind as your are. The grain in your wand is at a weird, lopsided angle."

Out the door, Harry sped down the hall a bit, disappearing in to the closest bathroom. It was empty, and he locked the door behind him. Facing the mirror, he watched his reflection carefully. Slowly, he started fading from view, becoming a misty, formless cloud and then disappearing entirely. He couldn't feel his body any more, he was just floating in the air. Turning, he moved forward. He had never really paid attention to how he moved before, he wasn't pushing off on anything, it was just like how he moved when he was humming. He faced his direction, and he would slide through the air.

He floated uncertainly in front of the door, before reaching out and prying at the lock. Slowly, it slid to an unlocked position, and with a tug at the handle it opened. Once in the hall, the air currents tugged at him, making his way back to the Great Hall easy. There were several students leaving already, and he set his eyes on a fourth year Hufflepuff, following behind.

Unseen, Harry grinned to himself. His plan was going off without a hitch. He had successfully made himself invisible before returning to the hall just as people were leaving. The small bunch of departing Hufflepuffs coalesced into a group as they headed towards they're common room. They stayed on the ground floor, moving into the left section of Hogwarts, in the direction of the Greenhouse 5. There was a hall that Harry hadn't noticed before, and they followed it down to the end. It was apparently moving parallel to the wall facing the greenhouses. They stopped in front of a there, a large hallway branched off but it was very short, having only two doors, one on either side. The rooms on the other side appeared to be empty, unused. In between the doors, however, at the end of the short little entrance hall was a full-length mirror with adjoined shelves on either side, between two short, bushy, plants.

A prefect stepped forward, right up the mirror, and Harry looked on in interest. Common rooms were a secret that you kept from the other houses; he had always wanted to know where the others were. The houses weren't on the Marauders Map, for obvious reasons. His third year, when Sirius was wanted and had tried to get into Gryffindor Tower proved that. The secret passwords had to stay secret or anyone could just come in when you were sleeping.

The mirror stirred. "Password, dears?" it asked. It was a magical mirror, like the ones at the Burrow and The Leaky Cauldron.

"Greensleeves."

"Quite right." The mirror then drew back, disappearing into the frame and leaving a space wide enough to walk though, which they did. Harry peered in, glancing around at the soft looking fluffy armchairs and deep yellow carpet. The walls and mantelpiece were a bright mahogany, along with the rounded tables.

Harry decided to move on. He turned around, and the mirror slid shut behind him. It oozed out of the frame, meeting in the middle and closing up. Ripples spread across the surface as it bubbled like water before flattening. Harry reached out with his hand. It felt like cold, hard, glass.

"Is someone there?" the mirror asked, alarmed.

Harry smiled and left back through the narrow corridor. He drew his legs up underneath him, getting faster as he got the hang of it. He sped through the air back to the Great Hall, looking around anxiously. Right, he hadn't missed them. He pulled up behind a lone Ravenclaw. She was carrying a book bag, and he settled down on it, clinging to the top.

She walked back through the main doors and back into Hogwarts. They went up a large staircase opposite to the ones that the Gryffindors usually took, and instead of moving up went straight. Harry didn't know exactly where they were going but they appeared to be near the back of the main part of Hogwarts, many floors up. They took a slightly twisty staircase. There was a small landing off the staircase with a large window and a wooden bench opposite a large bookcase filled with thick books. The Ravenclaw girl mumbled to the bookshelf, which Harry leaned up to hear, something along the lines of "triumphant". The bookshelf slid sideways leaving a space to be walked through. Harry snickered. _A bookshelf. How fitting._

Harry detached himself from the book bag. There was a definite trend in the common rooms- obviously, each was decorated with their house color, and then all had tables, a large fireplace, and many couches and armchairs. The tables in the Ravenclaw room were small and square, for about four people each. The armchairs were square and striped, and the entire back wall was lined with tall windows. On either end of the room was an open door frame that had stairs going up. Harry recognized several of the Ravenclaws sitting at the half circle of tables, Roger Davies, Penelope Clearwater, Terry Boot, Padma Patil; especially Cho Chang, Ravenclaw seeker. Hermione was nowhere to be seen- she was probably still in the library.

Harry entered the boys' dorms. At last.

He solidified himself, dropping down into the empty room. Harry looked around. Where to begin? He opened the nearest trunk and started looking through it.

No, no Riddle's Diary. He moved on through the room, and then continued to the next dorm room. It wasn't there, either.

Harry floated through the door of the Gryffindor Tower, passing through the Fat Lady instead of opening the portrait. The twins and Ron were playing one last game of Wizard's Chess by the fire, and almost everybody else had gone up to their beds.

He had searched through Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and then the Gryffindor dorms, remaining foggy when there were people in the room, but still searching every trunk, drawer, corner, and book bag. It had taken him hours. And Riddle's Diary had been nowhere.

Where else could it be? It wasn't in any of the dorms- could somebody be carrying it on them? That was a possibility. Though it was a book, it wasn't that easy to miss, and he had looked at every book he came across. _Could one of the professors have it? Couldn't be. They wouldn't speak to it, anyways._

Which meant he had either overlooked it, or it was somewhere hidden. He didn't think it was the former, either. But then someone must be hiding it. Ginny hadn't hid it when she had it, why would somebody want to hide a diary? Even if they did know what it was. Nobody would suspect an empty diary.

Harry slumped. I just don't understand, he thought hopelessly.

Harry drifted though the floor and almost passed through somebody. This had happened a couple times, and he had avoided people from then on. It felt rather unpleasant, like somebody was stirring you up with a mixer. The person would usually pale, clutching their chest a bit, and complain of feeling faint, while Harry could almost feel himself being caught up on the very real essence of their soul.

Harry looked closely at the person. It was a sixth year Slytherin, one of the Shadows. In a dark corridor. In the middle of the night. What would the Shadows be up to? He followed.

The person wasn't heading toward the usual dungeon room; he appeared to be going more in the direction of McGonagall's office. He passed down a long passageway and strode into an empty classroom. Harry raised an eyebrow. There was a collection of Shadows, not all of them as usual, only the older ones, including Alexander Lestrange. They clustered around him in the middle of the room, some sitting casually on top of some of the randomly placed desks in the room.

"You all know why I called this meeting."

The others nodded. "Harry Potter." They murmured.

Harry shivered a bit. _A meeting. About me._

"First matter- we've introduced him to our group, and how we work. He seemed to take to it pretty well, unlike others in the past, and one would think that he would be accepted without any problems. However, that is not the case."

"I don't trust him." Someone said.

Harry noticed Tracy sitting on one of the back tables, watching. She was the youngest Shadow there, the rest all looked like sixth and seventh years.

"He doesn't fit the profile of a Shadow." Another person continued. "Most of us are quiet, and stay out of the main affairs of the school. He however, is just about the most famous person in the Wizarding World. There are whole ENCYCLOPEDIAS of theory about him. He's one of the most celebrated Slytherins at the moment, after his victory as house seeker."

"But," Tracy cut in, and they turned to look at her. "Otherwise, he DOES fit the profile. He's quiet, keeps to himself, doesn't like others meddling in his affairs and wants to escape the bad reputation that the name 'Slytherin' tags on him."

They stood thoughtfully.

"I still don't trust him." The first sixth year insisted. "You have to admit, it's all very suspicious. He's not one of us yet you never really see him around. This whole Chamber of Secrets thing didn't happen until the exact year he arrived. He knows more than he's telling."

Alexander nodded. "That's another point. Somehow he has to be connected to the Chamber of Secrets. He claims not, but there are too many coincidences. But does that mean we want him in, or out? Its not too late for a memory charm."

"Could he be the 'heir'?" someone asked.

"Some people think so." Tracy said. "But, there is no proof. I have a feeling he doesn't mean any harm to anyone, he just doesn't seem like the type."

"It would be better if he were under our watch." Alexander said. "I think that he would be a valuable asset to the Shadows."

"He's Shadow material for certain." Tracy said. "I've been hanging around him since he got here, and he seems to have all the right qualities."

"You like him." Somebody joked. Tracy glared at them.

"So everybody, vote?" Alexander interrupted. "In or out."

"In."

"In."

"Out."

"In."

"Out."

"In." Tracy said confidently.

They continued around the room until it returned to Alexander. After a moments deliberation he said "In." He looked around the room. "In it is, then. We'll call another meeting tomorrow, for everyone, and he can have an official initiation. Dismissed."

They got up and Harry left then, through the floor.

The wood fibers and stone floated around him, larger than life, and he emerged into the air below. Something stirred, and suddenly he felt a hard surface closing in around him. He was pushed together in to a small, condensed cloud, and couldn't move.

Harry looked up into the large, distorted face of Jason Wolfsbane. Professor Wolfsbane held the bottle that held Harry up to his face and peered inside.

"What have we got here?" he murmured.


	31. Uninvited

* * *

Chapter Thirty: Uninvited

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry resigned himself to settling on the bottom of the jar and blinking up at Professor Wolfsbane, who was still studying him in astonishment.

_He can't possibly recognize me,_ Harry argued with his fear. _If he can see much of me at all I've got to be horribly distorted._ He stared back. Slowly, a grin spread across Wolfsbane's face, and he started off through Hogwarts corridors, which suddenly seemed dreadfully wide.

_Of course they seem dreadfully wide- _he reminded himself- _you're in a bottle the relative size of a potions vial_. He felt apprehensive. _How come I can't pass through the bottle? It had to be specially treated or something like that . . . how does one get out of a specially treated bottle when in a mist form? _Harry doubted even Hermione had ever come across that in any of her books.

Harry sped around in a small circle, bits of him trailing behind as he started to panic. What do I do?

* * *

Jason Wolfsbane's POV 

_Finally! After hours of tracking, I finally caught the thing. I was terribly excited of course, when it showed up on my watch- works rather like a compass, the thing does. More useful than any real watch, _Jason thought distractedly.

He held it up in front of him as he walked, still watching the form inside. It was moving around restlessly, a clear haze that could perhaps be taken for a bit of mist if it weren't for its condensed form and a pair of luminous green eyes peering at him. They were obviously intelligent, and looked right at him without ceasing, as if plotting. Jason felt a twinge of unease. It couldn't get out of the jar- no, that wasn't possible.

The Headmaster had given him an old office in the North side of Hogwarts with long windows that looked over the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He had heavy deep plum-colored velvet curtains, which he kept drawn tightly over them. _Who knows which nosy student on a broom might come peering through at my secret documents? _Dim light spread in a pool over his table from several pale candles, leaving the edges of the room clouded in darkness.

He snapped his fingers and the room flooded with light from a lantern overhead. He pulled the wire rack he had for holding bottles across the table, shoving papers aside with one arm. He set the bottle in its wire holder and studied it intently. It watched back with equal intensity. Jason stared. He pulled out a notepad and drew out a pen, and hovered, at a loss for words. Every time he looked at it, it hadn't moved.

Jason tossed the pad down and swore. With a click he swung the latch of the wire container down over the glass vial. The tip top curled down around the bottom part securely, like a growing vine. With one last glance he marched from the room.

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry took the opportunity to look around Professor Wolfbane's secret study- he didn't recognize the room. The walls of the vial were crystal clear, but it all blurred a bit around him. He could see the purple velvet curtains and the dark wood cabinets and papers strewn all over the place. _He hasn't even been here that long_, Harry thought. He supposed it was one of those strange portable rooms he didn't understand at all. He strained his eyes trying to read some of the papers, but the angles were just wrong. The words magnified up at him and he blinked furiously. _A magnifying glass. I'm in a magnifying glass . . ._

The door swung open, and Professor Wolfsbane breezed back through, followed by the entire staff.

"Remind me why we're here again, Professor." Flitwick said, peering around.

"Well I thought maybe you could enlighten me. I found this in the castle, maybe you know what it is." He pulled at the wire rack. They all turned down to look, and Harry scrunched down, frightened. He closed his eyes.

"What is it you expect us to see?" Dumbledore wondered.

"Well-"

"It looks like a basic solution to me." Professor Snape said icily, leaving 'and I'm the Potions Master' unsaid.

Harry, eyes still scrunched shut, realized that they couldn't see him. He resisted snickering. They would think that Jason Wolfsbane was moron.

"It was there just a minute ago!" Professor Wolfsbane insisted, slightly panicked.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Professor McGonagall's voice emanated from somewhere close by, "Professor Snape is right, it resembles a bit of precipitation or mist, we have all sorts of clouds that hang around Hogwarts school-"

There was a strange wrenching sound, his jar rattling. Suddenly the whole thing jerked up and Harry flung his eyes open. He realized what the sound was- the wire uncurling itself. He blinked, surprised, at the teachers.

"- oh my." McGonagall finished.

"Exactly!" Wolfsbane exclaimed.

Snape looked slightly alarmed, he raised an eyebrow. "It's probably one of those normal occurrences you tend to find in an area with as much concentrated magic as you find here, probably harmless."

Professor Sprout blinked owlishly. "It could be dangerous! Will we dispose of it?"

Harry was alarmed. He swished around and pushed against the sides. _What would they do?_ _They wouldn't kill me or anything, would they? No, Dumbledore wouldn't kill anything . . . 'dispose'? What if they stuck me into Gringotts or something?_

"It appears intelligent." Snape commented. Harry glared furiously at him.

"Do those eyes look familiar to you?"

Everybody stopped, and looked at Professor McGonagall. She shrugged. "Never mind."

"So nobody has any idea what it is?" Jason asked anxiously.

"I've never seen the likes of this before." Dumbledore affirmed. "You're the Dark Creature expert here, if you don't know what it is I doubt anyone knows."

"I'm NOT a Dark Creature expert!" He burst out. Snape smiled to himself, amused. "I mean, yes, I am very familiar with most dark creatures, but I specialize -" Seeing that he had talked himself into a corner, Professor Wolfsbane gave up.

"Can it get out?" Professor Sprout asked, as the other staff murmured.

"No. The jar is unbreakable."

They stood glumly.

". . . you know what?" Professor Snape looked stunned. "I think . . ."

Everyone looked on in suspense.

He continued, " . . . Peeves described something just like this when I was asking him where the Baron was. He claimed something of this description attacked himself and the Bloody Baron in a corridor one night."

Professor McGonagall paled, while a light dawned in Professor Wolfsbane's eyes.

"Wait a second." He hurled himself at a bookshelf and ruffled through several shelves before pulling out a large leather-bound volume from the back. Flipping near the back he found the page he was looked for and grinned in triumph.

"The Ghost Hunter." He read aloud. "Nothing at all is known about this particular creature." His smile faltered. "There have been no documented sightings for thousands of years, and the origins of the mythical Ghost Hunters is unknown. Nobody even knows if it's an animal, mineral, or plant! They have never been known to attack or harm anyone, though have appeared to stalk ghosts and sometimes even appeared to consume them. If you encounter one, you are probably under the influence of severe hallucinogenics, and if need to know more information, too bad, because you're not going to find anything, ha ha ha ha . . ." Professor Wolfsbane trailed off. "Author was very knowledgeable, though he had a peculiar sense of humor . . ."

"So . . . what now?" Interrupted Professor Sprout.

"Its obvious." McGonagall declared. Everyone looked at her. "We call Peeves."

"Right." The Professor Dumbledore stuck his head out of the door. "PEEVES!" He yelled, and waited.

They stood in silence, and the Professors looked at Dumbledore in mild, resigned surprise. The Headmaster sighed. "Lets go out and look for him."

They left the room, and it was once again silent and Harry was alone. Harry settled down again, nervous.

Less than a minute later, a familiar head poked through the doorway. Peeves floated in, looking around.

"Hello?" he called uncertainly. He shrugged, glided all the way in, a grin slipping over his ghostly face. He saw the vial on the table, and his eyes went wide. Harry scrunched his eyes as closed as he could. After a moment he started swirling around like a bubbling potion. The wires whipped around like tails, trying to hold the vial still.

"Huh." Peeves wondered. The vial tipped slightly. "This looks important." He pulled at it.

"HEY!" he yelled. "Stupid wires. Yeah, whip at me all you want! You just watch." There was a scrape and a brush of air. Harry heard a slight crackling sound as the magic that was sealing the jar was disabled. He rushed up.

He wafted out of the bottle like a genie, solidifying into a slightly humanoid shape and opening his eyes.

Peeves froze. "No . . ." What he had done dawned on him. With a shriek, he gulped air like a fish scrambled through the air to the door.

"Thanks, Peeves!" Harry yelled after him.

Peeves squinted back at him, incredulous. Swallowing, he nodded slightly in acknowledgement. Then he turned and fled.

With a glance around, Harry decided it was safest just to make a run for it. On one of the lower levels he pulled himself together. It was rather hard, and he kept misting out at the edges. Finally he was in one piece, and solid. His clothes were slightly wrinkled, but otherwise he looked fine.

He would rather be caught running around in the halls at night than risk being caught into another bottle, so he sprinted back to the Slytherin dormitories on foot, and fell promptly fell asleep.

Not at all aware that he had, indeed, been spotted.

* * *

The Next Morning... 

Harry's bed bounced up and he groaned, pulling his arm over his face.

"HARRY POTTER, SLEEPING IN?" Someone shook his foot.

He looked out into the searing light. Tracy was flopped over on her stomach, peering at him over her elbows.

"Who are you and what have you done with Harry?" She demanded.

"What are you doing in the boys dorms?" he asked her.

"You're going home for Christmas, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Well if you sleep another half an hour, you'll miss the Hogwarts Express."

"Seriously?" He threw off his thick blankets.

"If I knew you were already dressed, I would have let you sleep another five minutes." She said.

Harry looked down at his wrinkled clothes. "At least I don't sleep in the buff."

"Thank Merlin." She wrinkled his nose at him. "Come on, your stuff's packed."

She jumped up and he sluggishly followed. She hopped around while he easily lifted his trunk and carried it up the stairs.

"You're happy." he noticed, his voice slightly sarcastic but kind.

"Yeah." She flashed a grin. " I don't get to see my parents very often."

They walked up to the Great Hall. Tracy ran ahead, and Harry adjusted the weight in his arms. He looked back, gripping the trunk. Professor Wolfsbane was leaning against the back wall, watching the students leave. He spied Harry and watched him intently. Their eyes met, and they both stopped. Harry saw that he was fingering a small bottle in his hand, playing with the latch. Professor Wolfsbane looked slightly shocked. Professor McGonagall's voice echoed through his head, _'Do those eyes look familiar to you?'_. Professor Wolfsbane's eyes bore into his. Harry turned away uncomfortably.

He hurried off to catch the train and catch up to Tracy (which was rather unlikely).

* * *

Several Hours Later

The ride home had been very quiet. Not the station, it was covered with a seething mass of arms and legs and irritated clawing cats. Harry waved goodbye to Ron and Hermione when he caught a glance of them on the train, and helped Tracy carry her heavy trunk down the steps, where she disappeared into the crowd. He pushed forward, and looked around, not seeing anybody he knew. Popping out of the fray, Tracy had grabbed his arm. "My parents actually came!" she squealed into his ear. Looking up, she shrunk away under the shadow of the three remaining Marauders- James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Someone grabbed Tracy's shoulder. It was a tall, severe looking woman with sharp looking nails and long black hair with a thick fringe. She wore a tightly fitting robe that hugged her hips, with long sleeves and a hood that cast her features into sharp contrast. Just beyond her, a large wide shouldered man stood. There was something cold in his eyes as he gazed around. He looked down at Tracy and grunted, Harry thought, in approval.

"Come, Tracy." The woman ordered, pulling her daughter back. With a last searing glance at the Potters, the two disappeared, Tracy in tow.

"Did you see that?" Sirius gritted his teeth. "The Davises."

Lily shoved them aside and hugged Harry as hard as she could. Harry smiled, and hugged her back.

"I missed you so much!" She whispered and stepped back, smiling warmly. "How was Hogwarts?"

"Great, I loved it." She laid a hand over his shoulder and pulled him out, leaving the guys with Harry's trunks.

They hadn't talked much at all during the ride, and hours later Harry was left sitting on his knees, alone in the living room. He had changed into some comfortable muggle clothing, and his bags had been packed by the house elves. Fury was laying on her back in front of him, as if they were playing, but neither one moved. Both were sitting still, faces turned towards the closed door of the kitchen.

"Nothing, nothing . . ." They were in there, speaking in undertones.

"Well, ya know, you didn't exactly raise him most of these years." Remus said tactfully.

"Still, I know Harry-"

"-how did he end up in Slytherin? My point exactly." Sirius finished for his friend.

Harry silently got to his feet, padded softly over to the door. He stretched out his hand, pausing.

He pushed, walking in. They looked at him. "Maybe I can tell you."

The looked stunned for a moment.

"Harry, I'm sorry-" Sirius started.

Lily looked at him for a moment, and slowly smiled. Sirius was sitting on a counter, with Remus and James leaning across from him. Lily was sitting near by James on a chair. She pulled up another chair for him, and he walked over and sat down.

"I guess . . . " He looked at their faces. Sirius was looking down.

"The Sorting Hat said I would have been fantastic in Gryffindor." He continued.

"Of course you would have been." Lily said.

"And it was going to put me there, too, because it couldn't really decide where to put me, and then it was thinking about it and suddenly decided to put me in Slytherin. I just . . ." He shrugged his shoulders.

James slipped an arm around him. "It's okay, Harry, really. Just came as a bit of a shock, is all."

Harry sighed. _Can't I have been in Gryffindor when they were here to see me?_

"Tell us about school." Lily insisted.

"Yeah." Sirius pushed his shoulder. "Tell us how you got on the Quidditch team."

Harry looked at their faces, saw love and acceptance, and smiled.

* * *

Next Morning

It took Harry until his first foot hit the step to realize that something wasn't right. The stairway spun around him for a bit, and feeling slightly nauseous he decided not to risk the drop onto the living room couch. He started down the long stairway, noting that Fury was nowhere in sight.

It took him slightly longer than usual to reach the kitchen, where bright sunlight streamed through the windows and lit up the kitchen. He winced at the light squinting. Blindly he grabbed for something to eat, sticking his hand right into his cereal bowl where the house elves had left it. He left the glaring kitchen and sat on a couch, spooning the cereal slowly in his mouth.

_They're probably around somewhere,_ Harry thought. Still sleepy, he put down the cereal, and the calmness of the room lulled him to sleep as he stretched out on the couch.

Harry was incased in an atmosphere as thick as water, swimming forward. The air around him was swirling with grays like marble, twisting around as he floated through them. It was hard to see anything through the thick mist, but behind his eyes a picture was forming.

_Fury, leaping through the air. Surreally, she floated in slow motion until landing on something that made a sharp crack. A blue china plate spun, falling slowly. He watched with disinterest until he became drowsy, the vibrant blue fading into the mists._

A feeling of motion came over him as he rotated around. Something was stinging his eyes, and he peered down at his chest where his green amulet was glowing colorlessly. He reached up with his hands to cover it, and even they seemed to be in black and white. His hands and the amulet disappeared, to be replaced. The mists solidified, coming together into the shape of a human.

Within seconds Harry saw himself, standing alone in the middle of a void. Harry felt a hint of surprise through his dream state. _How can I be watching myself?_

The other him appeared to be staring past Harry in shock. Harry turned around, but there was nothing he could see. Turning back, he saw that the look on his phantom face had changed to one of grief.

Harry spun away from this, loosing sight as the other Harry disappeared into the distance.

This time when the scene appeared, it was as if Harry were looking through a window. On the other side he saw himself, this time in a world of color. He stood at a window, looking out, watching something that Harry himself couldn't see. Harry noticed that the other him was wearing long, snowy white robes, and suddenly he felt a deep loneliness. The other him gripped at the window pane, and Harry could feel his sorrow and longing, his feeling of being utterly outcast.

Suddenly, this Harry turned, as if someone was approaching.

Something grabbed Harry's shoulder, and shook.

"Harry, wake up! We're back." His mother's smiling face appeared over him.

"Where did you go?" he wondered.

She frowned. "Didn't Sirius tell you?"

Harry sat up. "Haven't seen him."

"Hmm. probably still sleeping. Well your father was meeting with some people at Dumbledore's office and I was out shopping." She grinned mischievously. "Christmas is coming up, you know."

He smiled back. _Boy do I know- like I'd forget my first Christmas with my actual family. I probably went overboard shopping at Hogsmeade._ Harry felt a thrill, wondering what he would be getting in return. _They've done nothing but spoil me since I come home._

His father came into the room, arms full of shopping bags. "What on earth did you buy?" he grunted. "It's heavy."

"No peeking."

"Just tell me where to put it down, quick!"

"Oh just leave it there. The house elves will move it up later."

Harry rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes, and his mind turned to his strange dream. _What was up with THAT?_ It reminded him of a dream he'd had years ago, when he was just a couple days old. He was surprised he could remember it so clearly.

Sirius wasn't seen at all until later, and Samantha showed up around lunch. Sirius staggered into the dining room, stretching. "Mornin." He yanked at his chair.

With a yowl, Fury leaped out from under it. She hissed, shedding feathers all over the place. Spitting angrily like a cat, she launched herself away from the table. She landed on a shelf across the room, and Harry watched a single plate of blue china spin loose, shattering on the floor.

He dropped his fork. _Wait, didn't I just dream something exactly like that?_

Fury ran from the room, and Sirius cussed under his breath.

"It's okay, just leave it." Lily waved a hand dismissively. Sirius took his seat, and was about to start eating when Lily leaned forward apprehensively.

"I have some news."

Harry looked up from his mashed potatoes. Lily looked a bit grim.

"What is it?" James looked concerned.

"Oh, nothing bad, just. I got a phone call this morning." She said vaguely. Everyone looked at her. "From my sister."

They all collectively sneered, especially Harry, though nobody noticed his gagging expression.

"Those good for nothing muggles." Sirius shook his head.

"Treating us all like that, I bet they're just jealous-"

"-Would never speak with the likes of them."

Listening to the table, Harry couldn't help but think about when times were reversed and the Dursleys would be going on like this.

"Well what did she want?" James prompted. "She's never called you before."

"Too true. Never minded much, though. Apparently their family has fallen upon hard times."

"Well tell them we won't give them any money." James said vehemently.

". her husband Vernon has lost his job, and they have to sell the house." Lily continued.

Harry grinned. _Maybe this place isn't so bad after all. Forget Gryffindor, the Dursleys are poor!_

"In fact, things have become SO bad, that they have no place to stay. So bad that she asked if they could stay here for perhaps a week until they find somewhere to go."

Sirius whistled. "That bad!"

"You said no, of course." James insisted.

The smile dropped off Harry's face as Lily didn't answer.

"YOU DIDN'T!" Sirius yelled.

"It's Christmas, I couldn't say no!" she argued James moaned, and Lily folded her arms.

Harry stuck his head in the mashed potatoes. They all looked at him.

"Okay." Sirius said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Oh, now look what you've done." Lily scolded. "Harry dear, I'm sure it won't be that bad. We've never gotten along, but I'm sure they'll just stay out of our way. They even have a son that's your age."

Harry stuck his head in deeper._ I am definitely not hearing this, _he decided.

"Harry?"

"I think-" Sirius said slowly. "I think he's trying to suffocate himself."

"Harry!" Lily grabbed his shoulder and pulled him out. Harry looked at her, mashed potatoes sticking up all over his face. "Harry what's gotten into you! Oh, you've got it in your hair. go wash up. Look, its too late now, they're coming tomorrow sometime. The subject is closed."

Harry left the table, and that was the end of dinner.

* * *

Next Day

Harry hugged his legs to his chest, feeling apprehensive. He sat on a window seat on the third floor, facing the front of the mansion. A small car was pulling up, and as he watched three figures stepped out, and started up in his direction.

Tugging at the curtain, he leaned forward to look at them.

Being poor hadn't changed Dudley's size at all. He lumbered up behind his father, a single box clutched in his fists. Uncle Vernon marched through the middle of the driveway like he owned it, which was his way of asserting himself, but you could tell he was tense. He was carrying most of the luggage, and Aunt Petunia followed with a purse and a duffle bag. Her shoulders were tight as she peered over her husband's shoulder, her pinched face unhappy.

Harry slowly pushed the window open, staying out of view. There was a loud click as the door opened below, and Lily walked out to meet them, in jeans and a flowing flowered blouse.

"Hey!" She greeted them warmly. "Welcome!"

Standing close to the front door, Harry could hear them clearly.

Petunia looked up at the mansion and Harry could see reflected in her eyes what the mansion had looked like the first time he saw it.

"Well, you've done well for yourself, haven't you?" Petunia commented with a hint of hidden jealousy in her voice.

Lily pretended not to notice as he pushed her red hair behind her ears and grabbed a piece of luggage.

"What's he do?" Vernon asked, eying the nice muggle car parked in front of the house.

"Hm?" Lily asked.

"Your husband. What does he do?"

"Oh. he works for the . . . government. He's taking a break at the moment though. I wonder where he is. . ." She looked around, and Harry ducked behind his curtain. "He inherited most of his money, as well as the mansion. Well known family, the Potters."

Petunia sniffed.

"I have a son your age, you know." Lily told Dudley.

"Oh." He stared blankly.

"Never mentioned him much, did you?" Petunia wondered.

"We never talked." Lily pointed out.

They walked inside.

"HARRY!" Lily yelled.

With a sigh, Harry walked over to the wall, before pushing the edge of a portrait, turning it. The floor slanted beneath him, and he slid down, landing quietly in the front hall behind the backs of the Dursleys, right in front of the closed door.

"Here." Harry said.

Their heads whipped around.

"How did he get there?!" Petunia said, eyes wide.

Behind the Dursleys Lily drew her finger across her throat, glaring. 'Cut it out!' she mouthed.

"Hello." Harry waved one hand unenthusiastically.

"Take some luggage, dear." Lily ordered, and the Dursleys eyed him apprehensively. "We're going to the front guest wing, there's plenty of room and it's all nicely furnished. I've let the... help... know they've moving in, so they'll know now to go disturb them." _Meaning, of course, the house elves and the portraits._

Harry grabbed a heavy trunk, and easily lifted it to his shoulder as they started off through the halls.

"The help?" Petunia asked, miffed.


	32. The Storm

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One: The Storm

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry got up very, very, early that next morning. Despite being banned from traveling the mansion magically due to their visitors, Harry took a quick jump down from his tower, and was on the couch roughly at four-thirty, wide awake as usual, and clad in a dark blue night robe.

Less than ten minutes later, a loud creak outside the living room alerted Harry to the presence of his large muggle cousin. The door opened, and a sleepy looking Dudley waddled in wearing his ducky pajamas, blinking in astonishment at Harry.

Harry turned on the television with his remote, giving a little wave. "Good morning, cousin Dudley." he said cheerfully.

Dudley rubbed his eyes. "Din' think anyone would be up this early." He eyed the telly. "Thought I'd come down and watch cartoons."

Harry smiled warmly. "Well you're welcome to join me." He gripped the remote tightly in his hand, frightened that Dudley would try to pry it out of his fingers.

Dudley settled down on the other side of the couch, and Harry rearranged the cushions, disgruntled, as it sank several inches.

Harry slowly flipped through the channels, finally landing on a channel about migrating humpback whales.

"Oh this is fun!" he exclaimed. Dudley looked at him, exasperated.

"Do you ever watch . . . anything . . ." Dudley trailed off, looking at the whales in distaste.

Several hours later, the presentation moved on to the whale's mating season, and Harry changed the channel again before Dudley appeared too interested. By seven fifty, when Lily appeared at the door, Dudley's eyes were glazed over and Harry was watching a nest of baby birds chirp outside the window, smiling falsely.

"Why look, Petunia, they're getting along already." Lily and her sister marched in. Dudley turned his head slightly, still watching the screen, and Harry waved his remote.

"We're having breakfast now, why don't you boys turn that off, I think you've watched enough." Lily pointed across the hall. "You and your husband can wait in there, Petunia; we'll bring the food in just a second. Harry?"

Harry hopped up, switching off the telling and escaping into the kitchen.

James and Sirius looked up as he came in, speedily shoveling cereal in their mouths.

"Well you're looking awake." Sirius grumbled.

"Dudley's been up since four watching television." Harry notified them with a grin.

"And you know this . . . how?" James asked.

"I beat him there."

"That's our Harry." Sirius smacked his spoon on the countertop.

James chuckled. "How did you guess he'd be up that early anyways?"

Harry, who was about to say 'I just know my cousin', quickly changed that to, "I just know people."

Sirius and James stopped, raising their eyebrows. Harry, who'd grown up a wild-child, knew no such thing.

The door opened. "No way, you guys are not getting away so easily! We're all going to go out there and eating breakfast together."

"But they're muggles!" Sirius exclaimed.

Lily gave him the evil eye.

"I mean they're rude, and-"

"Come on. Harry you too."

Grabbing the bagels, breads, cheeses, meats, and cereals the house elves had left they resignedly followed Lily, armed with several jugs of orange juice, to the dining room.

Sirius dumped a box of ham slices unceremoniously in the middle of the table and slammed his chair out, sitting at the end of the table. James quietly sat next to him, and Lily grabbed Harry's shoulders, forcing him down into a chair next to Dudley.

James coughed.

"So." Lily smiled, opening the butter dish. "You uh, were comfortable, I hope?"

"It was suitable." Petunia daintily shook out her napkin.

Sirius snorted loudly, choking on his toast.

Dudley, shoveling ham onto his plate, looked anxiously at the door, on the edge of his seat. He took a quick glance at Harry, and kept shoveling. Harry poked at his plate, watching Dudley polish off the rations of a small army.

"Mum." He plucked at her sleeve. "May I be excused?"

"Hmm." Harry took this as a yes and left, noticing Dudley's panic mount.

Harry closed the door behind him, retreating to the living room. He glared at the telly.

"Oh, that's what he was worrying about," Harry grumbled. "I don't have time for this." He told the telly, annoyed. "I'm not going to spend the next . . . I refuse to sit in front of YOU any longer."

He charged it, seeing his reflection shortly in it before hastily misting his arm. Reaching right through the plastic, he tore at the inside. Something made a slight crackling sound and Harry drew his arm out. A bit of electricity lightning-ed over his fingers, before they sluggishly molded into tan flesh and fingernails.

The door opened in the hall, and Harry jumped to his feet, slipping out of the room.

Walking towards his room, Harry could hear loud voices from the large dining room. Suddenly they hushed. Backtracking, he stuck his head through the gap in the door, peering in.

"Come in Harry, and close the door." Harry shut the door behind him, sitting in one of the chairs. Lily was standing and looking serious, and Sirius was still eating and looking sheepish.

"We never told our son about . . ." Petunia bit her lip. "Any of your . . . things."

Vernon grunted.

"Things. I see." James nodded knowledgably.

"She means magic." Lily clarified.

"Oh. Oh, really?" James looked at them.

Vernon mumbled something under his breath. Sirius mumbled something back. Vernon glanced at him, nostrils flaring. Sirius continued mumbling.

"So basically, Harry, James, Sirius, all such activities should be kept to a minimum."

"Mumble minimum . . . ha ha . . ."

Lily glared at Sirius. "I'd like to remind you Sirius, you are a guest here as well."

"No he's not." James pointed out. "Nobody invited him."

Sirius blinked at his friend, indignant.

" . . . he's just like . . . furniture or something." James finished.

Lily sighed. "The point being, the Dursleys wish their son to remain oblivious to the true nature of-" She looked dumbfounded. "Of . . . our family."

"MUM!" Dudley shouted from the other room. "THE TELLY WON'T WORK!"

James and Sirius looked at Harry.

"What!"

* * *

Petunia's POV 

That night, the Dursleys were assembled in the family room of their guest quarters, where they had remained all day. Petunia pursed her lips together, worried. Her angel face was sitting listlessly in the corner.

"I'm worried about that boy's influence on Dudley!" She whispered furiously to Vernon.

Vernon's eyes narrowed. "Our Dudley doesn't need one of those pansy private schools. He's tougher than that."

Petunia had been talking about the boy and not about their money problems, but she overlooked this. "Any luck with a place today?"

Vernon shook his head. "I have a job interview tomorrow, I'll take the bus."

A year splitting yowl tore through the room, whistling through the gaping black window. Petunia screamed, and they all leapt together, landing in a heap on the plush sofa. Dudley squeezed her waist, whimpering.

They stared in fright at the window, where the curtains fluttered in the wind, and the full moon shone like a beacon on their window. A snarling, sniffling sound came from just before, and the growls were moving closer. Vernon suddenly lunged, slamming the window shut and fumbling, locking it shut before sliding down the floor, breathing fast.

They waited anxiously.

Silence.

Something scratched at their window.

They sprinted to an inner room, slamming the door behind them and locking it shut.

* * *

Outside 

Harry-wolf trotted through the trees, grinning to himself. Sniffing shortly and the scent coming at him on the wind, he shuddered, back straightening into his own, normal short self. On the other side of shrubs, he leaned against a tree and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"So what are you doing out here?" he asked.

Sirius and James looked up.

Sirius pointed at the window. "We're going to make howling noises outside of their window and scare the shit out of them."

"Too late." Harry grinned smugly.

They looked blankly at him. Comprehension dawned. "Come on Sirius, plan 'B' . . ."

Dragging Harry along, the two Marauders headed back for the house.

* * *

The Next Day 

"Maybe they're adapting." Lily commented, rather doubtfully, and she rearranged the flower vase on the kitchen table.

Harry, perched on a stool, tugged at his hair.

"No, you don't think so? You may be right." She sighed. "Mighty sociable all of a sudden, though. I thought they may spend the rest of their stay in their quarters like yesterday, but they seemed to enjoy our company today." She placed a fixing charm on the position on the flowers with a flick of her wand. Peeking over her shoulder for Dudley, she stuffed it back into a pocket.

"Mum." Harry nudged her arm.

"Yes Harry?"

"Why do the Dursleys have to stay here . . . We're not REALLY related to them." He pointed out.

Lily sighed. "I still grew up with Petunia, and consider her my sister. Do you expect me to explain to her that we're not related? Oh yes, Petunia, I'm actually some magical person who was switched with your original sister, who's probably dead. But I still consider you family, really, I do!"

"Oh . . . not bad. She might decide to leave."

"Harry, you have to understand. I can't just- cast her out!"

"Why not?"

"Don't mind it, Harry. It's not for long anyways. Bring this jug to the living room, Vernon will be home soon and we can all relax there. Maybe he got a job!" She cheerfully handed him the juice.

Grumbling, Harry carried the jug to the coffee table in the living room, passing Dudley and Petunia on the way. The door opened, and James walked in, followed by Sirius. Petunia and Dudley looked at James and Sirius. James and Sirius looked at Petunia and Dudley. They all stared at each other. Dudley stared at the blank telly. Harry looked at the juice.

"Oh . . . hello Harry." Sirius, using Harry as a cover, sat on the opposite sofa. James joined them, where they sat in silence, leering at the Dursleys.

The door opened, waking them all out of their reverie. Lily placed a plate of biscuits on the table.

The door opened again, and this time Vernon entered. Harry glanced up, and then turned away. Vernon was brewing like a storm cloud. His face was mottled purple, but he was uncharacteristically silent. He took a seat next to Petunia, his presence filling the room until everybody else felt squished against the far wall.

Sirius looked a bit alarmed.

"What school do you go to?" Dudley asked Harry, plucked at the fabric on the sofa grumpily.

"Um . . . private school."

"Very exclusive." Lily nodded.

"Well!" Petunia sniffed, sticking her nose into the air. "I haven't seen any of this 'help' you keep referring to."

"They're very well trained." Lily nodded. "I doubt you'll see them at all, yet the house is clean and fresh!"

Petunia shrugged one shoulder, irritated. She couldn't argue with that; the house elves had gone into fits of excitement when discovering there were guests in the house, and the house was maniacally clean. "Did you get the job, Dearest?" Petunia patted her husband's arm.

He growled, and they edged away, startled.

"It . . . didn't go well, Vernon?" Petunia asked delicately.

"Didn't . . . go . . . well . . ?" Vernon shook in his seat. "I NEVER EVEN GOT TO THE INTERVIEW!" he rattled off a list of expletives, and Sirius covered Harry's ears absent-mindedly.

Harry and Lily had spent all morning laying a long strip of tape connected the guest quarters with the front hall so that nobody would get lost, and even though Harry would admit that he HAD laid a couple detours behind his mother's back, he couldn't imagine what had gone wrong.

"How come?" Lily asked.

"I was walking along the blasted tape, doubled back on itself it did, and suddenly I found myself in a white room. NO DOORS! NO WINDOWS!" He roared. "Shortly, a door appeared. APPEARED! RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM!"

"Oh." James said. "Er, the house must have moved."

Dudley jumped in his seat, landing on the floor. Petunia let out a gasp and Vernon glowered at them, thumping the sofa with his fist. "MOVED!"

"Happens sometimes." Lily said logically. Vernon (Harry couldn't bring himself to refer to him as 'uncle' at the moment) got to his feet, marching away.

"Moved?" Dudley asked confused, and Petunia burst into a flood of tears, hugging him to herself, attempting to cover his eyes and ears at the same time.

"DON'T listen to them!" she insisted, sobbing. "They're bad people, Dudley!"

"WHAT?" James and Sirius jumped to their feet.

"Now people!" Lily got to her feet as well. "Vernon I apologize . . ." She followed him into the kitchen, where Harry could hear him bellowing persistently, and scraps of conversation echoed out through the door.

"CAN'T . . . MISFORTUNE . . . BELIEVE SOMETHING . . ."

Lily lost her cool. "HOLD ON YOU GREAT BIG . . ."

James started for the kitchen, and suddenly Petunia ceased sobbing and screamed. Throwing her self down on the floor, she grabbed hold of James' ankles. "Don't you hurt Vernon!" she wailed. James' feet got tangled, and he went down. Sirius looked on in wonder.

Harry went into the kitchen. A strange sensation struck the base of his skull as he passed through the door, and he jerked in surprise, stumbling forward.

Lily turned away from Vernon, worried. "Harry?"

Something whistled through the room, and they all ducked. Suddenly the room was filled with an impenetrable whiteness, and a strong wind sucked through, tearing at their clothing. Vernon struck the far wall, clutching the windowpane. Harry closed his eyes, covering his face from the terrible wind.

Shouts came from far away, through the open doorway from the living room, and somebody grabbed his shoulder. Lily had reached him in the middle of the room where they stood, with nothing to grab hold of. She tried to stay something, but her words didn't reach him. Blinded, the storm raged around them, slashing through the air and taking the breath out of their lungs. Lily hugged Harry to herself, and he dug his hands into her apron, holding on.

Harry opened his eyes. The terrible wind still hadn't left, and it spun around them like a hurricane. He squinted, peering at his mother, and found her looking back, eyes wide in surprise. Something was happening. Harry could feel her slipping away. He tried to grab her sleeve, but couldn't get a good hold. Lily seemed to be disappearing under his fingertips.

A gust slammed into him, and he was thrown to the floor. Curling in a ball, he felt a chair hit him.

And then the room got still. Harry sat up, opening his eyes. The wind was gone, and he was in the kitchen, alone. Sirius burst through the doorway followed by James, with Petunia dragging along from his foot.

In the corner, Vernon appeared from under an overturned table.

"Where is Lily?" James asked.

Harry shrugged, listlessly. "I . . . don't know."

They gazed at him, puzzled.

"We're leaving!" Vernon said, dragging his wife through the door. Harry could hear him stomp all the way out of the hall, and the front door slammed behind them.

The three looked around the room. It was still empty.

James flipped over the table, rushing through the room. "Where is she, is she trapped somewhere?" He frantically burst through the rubble.

"No." Harry said quietly. "She was right in front of me, and she . . . disappeared."

* * *

That Night 

The sun had set, and Harry, James, and Sirius sat on the sofa, exhausted. Several house elves burst through the kitchen door, dragging pieces of wrecked furniture before popping away.

James got to his feet. "We've got to keep looking."

Sirius sighed. "We've searched the entire mansion."

"But the house could have put her somewhere, she could be trapped-"

"I'm sorry, James."

James glared at him. Harry silently pulled his knees to his chest, hugging them. James tiredly sat down next to him.

"We've done all we can."

The door opened, and a wrinkly house elf bowed itself in. "Headmaster Dumbledore, sir!" he squeaked, and stepped back through the doorway. Dumbledore stepped into the room, followed by a familiar woman in a blue robe.

"Camellia!" Harry said in surprise. He jumped up and ran to meet her. "What happened?" he asked softly.

Camellia didn't answer.

"Dumbledore." James said gravely. "We've searched the entire mansion, and the house elves are still all over it. I tried all the spells I could think of-"

Camellia cleared her throat loudly. They looked up, surprised. "Excuse me, it's late, and I think Harry should get some rest. We'll be going now."

They made for the door. "Wait a second." Dumbledore motioned for them to come back. "Harry I understand you were the sole witness?"

Harry nodded.

"What exactly did you see?"

"She disappeared."

"Disappeared how? Like apparating, or was there any flash or light?"

"She faded."

Dumbledore looked surprised. " . . . faded?"

"Yeah. One second I could almost see through her, and then she just faded away."

Dumbledore contemplated, running his fingers through the tip of his beard. "Did you notice any red coloring to the wind?"

"No . . . it was wind." Harry replied obviously.

"I'll be back in a while," Camellia, pulled Harry firmly away, nodding to the Headmaster. "We'll be going now."

Dumbledore seemed a bit bothered with how she was asserting authority over him, but he turned away. The two walked hurriedly from the room, Harry finding new energy. They took the staircase, in the direction of Harry's tower.

"What happened?" he demanded. "I know you had something to do with this. You always do."

Camellia's shoulders slumped. "Unfortunately, yes. What happened was basically the same thing that happened to you."

"You mean my mum is somewhere else in time right now!"

"Yes."

"Where? When can we get her back?"

"We haven't been able to pinpoint her location. If we find her, we may or may not be able to return her to her own time."

"Why NOT?"

She sighed. "You cannot command time to bend to your will, Harry. Sometimes things move around, to make pieces fit together."

"Like me."

"Quite right. Though we were responsible for that one."

"Well what is our purpose then? If the Thirteen can change things in time, how come this happens?"

"We are not all seeing, Harry, and this all happened rather abruptly. We'll keep looking for her, but," She looked into his eyes seriously. "There really isn't anything we can do. We exist to watch over events and make sure that the world keeps in balance. When something needs to be done, it happens anyway, and our power is used to make the move.When we moved you we did it cleanly, but this was unplanned, that's why there was a storm. Basically we moved her, without us willing it to happen."

"I felt it!" Harry yelped. "Right before, I felt it when it started to happen! Something tingled in my head."

"We all did. Sleep, Harry." She closed the door to his bedroom, sealing him inside.

With a groan, Harry flopped over on his bed, curling into a ball.

* * *

Harry's Dream 

The ground beneath Harry's feet hazed into existence. Instead of his hill and the oak tree, Harry was in the depths of a dark forest. Trees curled overhead, blocking the sunlight. Gabriel, the black, unidentified species of dragon, was curled around a thick trunk, Arlene was perched in his tree, and Raphael lay twitching on the floor. The three of them looked down, concerned. Harry picked the writhing snake up from the ground, holding him up.

"Uh, Raphael?" Harry asked, "Are you . . . okay?"

The small serpent stilled. "Hate." he said, slipping away and vanishing into the bushes.

Harry watched him go. "Well, what crawled up his . . . Wait, come back here! I know this has to do with you!"

Arlene suddenly lit upon his shoulder. "He's just feeling guilty." She sniffed, and Harry stopped, contemplating this. _How does a bird . . . with a beak . . . sniff, exactly?_

"What happened?" he demanded. "Did somebody show up here, and ASK him to . . . do the whippy time thing?"

"Not exactly. Something showed up, yes, but it was a bit more complicated than that."

"Where's my oak tree?"

"Well you seem to be a bit agitated at this time, so, for the time being, we appear to be in a forest."

"Er, why?"

"You tell me. It's YOUR mind."

"Then why did my mom disappear!"

Arlene shouldered his ear. "It will all work out, you'll see."

"But she's my MOTHER!"

Arlene stayed silent.

* * *

Morning 

Harry sat up, blinking in surprise. It was early, as usual for when he woke up, but Harry pulled his blanket over his head, grabbing the edges and tucking them under himself until he was completely swathed in.

'I just want to sleep . . .' he thought mournfully. Twenty minutes later, he had established that this wasn't going to happen, one, for lack of air, and two because he had become restless. Jumping up, he pulled on some simple pants and a long shirt, folding his arms for warmth and trekking down the stairway. The house was empty and silent.

Harry tried the telly, but it was still very broken. He sighed, leaning back, and closing his eyes. A house elf wandered by, dusting around him.

A long, low, note echoed through the living room, and Harry recognized it as their not often used doorbell. He decided to go get it.

Harry padded down the hall, unlocking the security locks. Pausing cautiously, he peered through the crack in the door. Seeing a familiar grin, he opened the door in shock.

Tracy stood beaming on their doorstep. She wore a red pleated skirt and a knit sweater, completely surrounded by trunks and suitcases. She readjusted the duffle bag on her shoulder, shifting her weight to her other foot. "Nice mansion, Harry!"

He ran his hand through his messy hair groggily, peering out at her. "Huh?" He felt indefinitely tired, and his shoulders slumped.

She raised her eyebrows. "Who died?"

There was a moment of silence.

"What!" Harry roused abruptly. "What did you say?"

"Nothing . . . you looked put out." Tracy faltered. "Er . . . do you think I could come in?"

Harry thought about this. He nodded. "Oh yeah, go ahead." He moved to the side. "Could someone get her stuff?"

A house elf duo snuck past, rubbing their hands together in excitement.

"Welcome to The Potter Mansion, Miss!" Dottie squeaked. "We'll be moving your stuff into the hall."

"Why thank you." She gave them a nod, and their eyes bulged, on the verge of exploding. _There's a nasty visual._

"Ah, a nice visitor!" Dottie squeaked.

Harry walked into the front hall, leading her to the living room. Tracy followed slowly, hesitating in the hall. She murmured appreciatively, looking up into the high glass ceiling and down at the marble floor.

She followed him into the spacious living room, and he sat on the sofa. She sat across from him, and there was an awkward moment.

"So, er, how did this come about?" he asked.

"My parents had to leave . . . over Christmas." she said, looking downcast. "Some important business trip. They manage and own a store in Diagonalley. They had to go, and they wanted me to stay with my cousins." She frowned. "I asked, well, pleaded, if I could stay at your house instead, and they gave in."

"I could leave, if you guys don't have room." She looked up at him.

Harry shrugged. "It's shouldn't be a problem . . . we had visitors, but they left yesterday. Plenty room besides."

She smiled, tilting her head to the side. "Thanks, Harry. Are you sure you're parents will be okay with this?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"I did get here pretty early . . ."

Harry checked the time. "It's fine. Would you like the tour until my father wakes up?"

She smiled. "Great."

* * *

Tracy's POV 

Tracy added toppings to her sandwich, laying her sliced pickles in a long row. _Harry's father is very nice, _she decided. He sat across from her, pouring a bottle of alcoholic beverage . . . what kind she couldn't tell, and why he would be drinking in the middle of the day she couldn't decide either. They looked quite a bit alike, the two of them, but Tracy concluded that Harry must look a lot like his mother. Who, strangely, hadn't shown up yet, and as they hadn't mentioned her, she supposed they didn't expect her soon.

"So what's my son like at school?" James asked.

Tracy shrugged. "Quiet."

James guffawed. "This monster? Flying down the stairs at all hours of the night . . . gonna hit somebody one day, you are . . ."

"Dad, you're drunk." Harry stated, after a hesitation, grabbing a bottle of black liquid and pouring it over his sandwich. _Doesn't look very appetizing, but who am I to judge?_ Tracy decided not to try the little black bottle.

Tracy liked the Potter's house, too. It wasn't comparable to the Davis's manor, which resembled a gothic church more than anything, the Potter Mansion cascaded across the land like a rambling castle. It reminded her a bit of Hogwarts, without the rustic antiquity. Like Hogwarts, it had dungeons, which Harry had shown her, but they hadn't ventured inside. _Shame, dungeons are fascinating, maybe we will get a look inside later._

Tracy noticed then that James was still rambling on about something. Harry rolled his eyes and slid down in his chair a bit, silent as usual. He shrugged to some inquiry, poking at his sandwich, apparently at a loss at how to eat it now that it was saturated. He mumbled something, and finally, alarmingly enough, rolled up his sleeves and stuck his hands right into the mess, beginning to stuff it down his throat.

Tracy watched him. _There's something fascinating about Harry. Like dungeons._

_Or maybe that isn't the best analogy. Anyways, he managesto look dignified even while eating like a complete savage, which he reliably does. And he has a very strange accent . . . it isn't always noticeable, and you tend to get used to it after a while, but it's definitely there. Providing he talks at all._

"Dad, you didn't know me when I was three . . ." Harry whispered insistently to his incoherent father.

Yeah, definitely a weird accent.

* * *

Harry's POV 

Tracy was given the Crow Suite, which was on the other side of the mansion from the guest quarters, which were being cleaned since the Dursley's stay. The suite was much nicer, and in a back corner on the sixth floor. The Crow Suite had a large light blue room with many plush armchairs and a large window overlooking a patch of trees and a corner of the Quidditch Pitch. Adjoining were two bedrooms, one a master with a king size bed covered with silken sheets, and a bathroom with a wide window, though Harry assured her nobody would be flying by. It was one of the smaller suites, but really neat as there was crow motif all the way along the edges of the wallpaper, wings meeting as they flew across the walls in a twisting line.

Harry gazed at the Quidditch Pitch, sunk deep into an armchair. There was a flag blowing in the wind, the edges rippling. Tracy's armchair was close to his own and she was laughing happily.

"So how has your break been so far?" She continued.

"Its been okay . . ." Harry tapping his fingers tensely. "You?"

"I had a good time. I don't get to see my family often."

"I love holidays with my family." Harry said, somewhat unconvincingly.

"Yes, me too. Though I miss the Shadows while I'm gone." She eyed him, but he didn't react. "Our first meeting is the Sunday after we return to school. Will you be going?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"I hope you do." She stopped. "Well, what I mean is that the Shadows are really great." She considered him. "Is something wrong, Harry?"

He shook his head.

"It's just; you're the quietest, most secretive person I know, being quite and secretive. I don't know what to think."

Harry smiled. The longer he looked at the crow motif, the more they began to look like large, black ravens.


	33. The Journey

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two: Journey

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry was curled up in his bed. His pillow was clenched in his arms, and he was surprised to find tears unshed in his eyes.

Harry buried his face. He missed his mother more than he could even express to himself. Suddenly she had just been gone_... so empty._ It wasn't that long ago when he had been a little kid in a cupboard daydreaming . . . or a schoolboy looking through a silent photo album. For the first time in his life his family and been completely and utterly _complete._ Through all the years living in the woods, not even his family there could even compare to what he had here in this house. His longing to live in the wild was still there, but nothing could ever draw him away from his home.

Anger towards Camellia rose in him. _Why couldn't they all go away?_ He didn't need The Thirteen, and he didn't care about mystical forces or destiny. The thing he most desired had been given to him, and then taken him away. It was just cruel… Harry never wanted anything to do with The Thirteen again. _I can take care of things by myself. They just meddle and ruin everything for me._

_I take care of ME_, he thought resolutely. _If I have to do everything myself . . . I will._

Harry had felt frozen for the last couple days. _I must be in shock_. He huddled in his tower, blinded by his pain. He walked zombie-like, until the moments he would forget. And then he would remember all over again.

She'd had a look in his eyes, when she had looked through the storm and stretched her hands out to him . . . something familiar was reflected there. Harry felt it now, and a sense of hopelessness fell over him. This was the woman who had spent ten years of her life trying to find him.

He pored through his memories. What now? He understood how events were going . . . he knew how they wanted to happen; they just had a bit of a spin, because of things that he'd changed. The world had changed drastically, but by what force? As far as he knew, Harry was the only variable between the original time and this one now. But if he could make such big changes by just existing . . . what could he do if he actually tried? He'd hidden for so many years, and had never taken any care to how events were going. Could he have prevented Lily's disappearance? What else was going to happen, could he be doing something right now that would help?

Harry tossed and turned, restless. When he awoke in the morning, it was Christmas.

Sirius shouldered a beaming grin as he passed a huge box over to Harry. "So what's with the girl?"

"I told you, she's Tracy." Harry said.

"So you told me, over breakfast . . . doesn't explain why she's staying at our house, though." Sirius raised his eyebrows in question.

The door swung open behind them, and they turned. Samantha strode through the door. "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" She bellowed. The several boxes tucked under her arm were thrown into the fray. Taking a seat on the couch, she smiled at them.

James came through from the kitchen. "Let's open presents." He said, giving his sister a hug. "Glad you could come, Samantha."

"Aw, where else would I go?" she asked sweetly. James hugged her again.

Tracy came through from the kitchen, carrying a glass of milk. She smiled, sitting and curling her legs under herself comfortably on the other couch.

Samantha looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Um . . ."

"Tracy, this is my Aunt Samantha. Samantha, this is my friend Tracy from school. She's spending part of the holidays here."

"I see." Samantha nodded, winking slyly.

"How about presents!" Sirius grabbed one, throwing it in the air. He checked it. "Oh. It's mine." He tore the paper, opening a small cardboard box in which something had been folded and stuffed inside. He pulled it out, confused. "A tie. Thanks James. I'm sure I won't use it." He carefully slid it under the couch, and James laughed heartily.

"Tracy what about you?" Harry asked.

"I opened my presents before my parents left."

Harry picked up his next one, tearing at the tape. He narrowed his eyes as it resisted, ripping off the cheery Christmas tree wrapping. Inside was a neat leather case. Inside, on a bed of velvet, was a long, thin, carefully balanced throwing knife. Harry picked it up, running his hands over it. The blade was sharp, and intricate runic patterns were etched up the side. Harry whistled in appreciation. Underneath on the velvet was a carefully folded note. He replaced the knife, opening the note. "Go get 'em, son," he read. "Your mother, Lily."

There was a heavy silence in the air. Harry looked up; Tracy was staring at him with a horrified expression on her face. She leaned forward to get a good look at the leather case.

"She had second thoughts about that one. It was pretty expensive, but she was more worried what you would do with it . . . we know you do like knives . . ." James said, adding, ". . . a lot." Harry's hands shook as he clutched the case to himself. He nodded.

* * *

Tracy's POV 

Tracy leaned back on the cushions, hands cupped around her empty mug. _These people just kept getting weirder and weirder_. They seemed to have forgotten her, which was good. The Slytherin girl was feeling uncomfortable and out of place, intruding on somebody else's family on their special day of the year. Still, it was better than visiting her cousins. She wrinkled up her face. _Nothing is worse that that_. Tracy turned her mind away from her greatly disliked relatives, and back to the scene at hand.

Tracy came from a fairly orderly family, they had their rules and their routines in their lives, and Hogwarts was quite similar. She was used to her life making sense and understanding everything. But not Harry. When it came to him, everything seemed to be out of place and chaotic. There was Harry himself, with his strange gait and foreign accent, and his indiscernible habits; gone at all hours, showing up usually late at night and gone by the time she got to the common room, early every morning. _And where is his mother? _They all seemed to be dancing around the subject, and the room had become tense and seemingly airless as her name had been mentioned.

_'Lily', it's a pretty name._

_Who gets a knife for Christmas . . . from their __MOTHER?_ Harry had gotten several other presents; books, Quidditch supplies, magic gadgets, and funny muggle appliances. His family seemed to be willing to go to any lengths to get him things which, coming from a rich family herself, Tracy understood.

_But a __KNIFE?_

"Hold on. Tracy I got you something from Hogsmead, I was going to send it by owl. But since you're here . . ." Harry jumped to his feet, disappearing into the hall.

There was an estranged silence between the people in the room as Harry removed himself their midst.

"So Stacy," Sirius started.

"Tracy." She interrupted.

"Tracy, what house are you in?" he asked.

"Harry's." She said shortly.

A moment later Harry bustled through the door, carrying something. Tracy blinked.

_. . . Had he gone all the way up to his tower and back?_

He tossed it into her arms, and she looked down at the small package. It was a small, crisp, white box, not wrapped. Pulling up a bit of tape, she pulled the lid out of its tab and opened it. There was a mess of stuffing inside, and she dug through it, fingers contacting something small and hard. She pulled it out, holding it up.

It was a bracelet, with long flat bands interlinked by small loops. It was made of a coppery metal, which was burnished and darkened at the edges. Each band had a peculiar symbol on it, and altogether Tracy found it very beautiful. "What a thoughtful present!" she exclaimed.

"_Most guys can never do _anything_ right . ._ ." she murmured softly. She gave him a one armed hug, and he seemed a bit embarrassed.

"It reminded me a bit of where I grew up." He said, shrugging. "Some of them are music notes."

She clasped it on her wrist. _Where he grew up? _She peered around the room, finding nothing similar in the modern fireplace and moderate bookshelves.

The tall man with the dark hair, and (as she found) quite good looks, snickered something, and she looked up at them.

_Odd, for sure._

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry woke up.

His room was dark, and everything looked soft and blue from the glow of the moon outside his window. A gust of wind blasted through, chilling him. Harry pulled at his comforter, pulling it around him. Something from the window called . . . ignoring the cold, he got to his feet and went over to the window. Rich smells wafted to his nose, and he sorted through them carefully. The house next door was up late, popping corn, there was a lone dog wandering by on the road. The trees were healthy and their sap was strongly scented. The smells of the forest were terribly familiar, and Harry remembered. Running as fast as possible, darting between the trees while Bear, not quite as fast, was somewhere behind. The village was ahead, and there were people cooking. He could smell the subtle scent of steel from his own hidden knives. Coming up to the village, Harry opened his eyes. His hand rested gently on the windowsill, and his forehead touched the cool glass.

He reached underneath and pulled out his new throwing knife. He stoked the long thin blade. It was smooth, and felt soft like silk.

Harry decided something. Moving over into his large closet, he grabbed a durable set of clothes, dressing while formulating a plan. At his desk, he scribbled out a short note, folding it twice and printing his father's name clearly on the side. Leaving it in clear sight, he turned and loped silently down the stairs and out the front door. Standing outside in the yard, Harry breathed in the smell of the trees.

He stood uneasily for a couple minutes. Abruptly, he winked out, and was no longer found anywhere on the broad lawn.

Harry blinked against the darkness, trying to find his bearings. Lights whizzed by him like many stars, and a feeling of great space spread out before him suddenly disappeared as the landscape sifted together and solidified again.

Harry was a bit disoriented for a second. Strangely enough at the moment the diffused feeling of being dissolved into a million tiny pieces was almost welcoming. It felt like his mist form.

He was in his forest, and wasn't far from camp.

Harry took off at a fast trot. Through the thick concentration of trees the smell of meat wafted to his nose, and he went fast, taking a huge leap over a large felled tree and into the familiar dark elf camp.

Several elven woman jumped to their feet at his sudden entrance, but recognizing him, disregarded his presence. After he passed by, a woman with a bright red sash turned to her friend and asked quizzically, "Didn't I hear that the Raven boy died in a troll or dwarf attack or something?"

"Really? I don't recall."

Harry slowed at the far end of camp, where a small fire was burning and several familiar faces sat around, talking loudly. It was Bear and some of the other young warriors, warming their hands.

"Bear." Harry called softly. Bear looked up, mouth dropping open. Standing abruptly, he tumbled ungracefully over the log he had been sitting in, before enveloping Harry in a huge brotherly hug.

"Raven!" He laughed, slapping Harry's shoulder. "I thought they killed you! You escaped?"

"I was bought by some kind individuals."

"_Bought?_" he said perplexedly. The smile dropped off his face. "The dwarves NEVER sell elves. They'd rather… bargain, or torture us or… how did you get _bought!"_

Harry frowned. "I dunno, I never thought about it…"

Bear raised a bushy eyebrow, silently questioning his friend's sanity.

"So…" Harry said, at a bit of a loss. "How are things going? Scythe? Leaf? They around?"

"Scythe just came back from a long hunt, werewolf territory. We should be able to find him."

"Let's go."

later...

Leaf enveloped Harry in one last lingering hug, and he leaned into his closing his eyes. "I'm so happy for you that you've found your parents." She said softly.

Harry nodded numbly, and they stood for a moment. Stepping out, he clasped hands with Bear, who grinned widely. "I'll come visit you sometime… " he promised. "And try to find out what that old guy promised in order to free you…" he said in an undertone. "Or I'll have to do it. Move on!"

Harry pulled his throwing knife from his boot, saluting them. He faded away into nothing.

Bear blinked. "What the _hell!_"

* * *

One Week Later 

Fury rolled over onto her back, tongue lolling around. Flailing widely in the air with her paws, she almost avoided the invasive grasp of Tracy, who rubbed her stomach viciously. The two of them were lounged on the back lawn. Harry was on his back several feet away, staring vacantly at the clouds.

Fury thumped onto his chest, and he laughed, joining them.

"It's been more fun than I thought…" He lifted Fury above his head. "Having you here for Christmas."

She watched him, smiling. "I'm glad you guys let me stay."

"What's wrong with your cousins, anyway?" Harry lifted an eyebrow.

"They're _pervs._" She scowled.

"Harry!" They looked up towards the house, where Sirius banged on the door. Harry jogged over, leaving the two in the grass.

"Your father wants to talk to you… in the study."

Harry nodded, heading up the stairs. The door to his father's new study was slightly ajar, and Harry opened it gingerly, walking in and taking a seat on a cushioned window seat. His father poked at the fireplace.

"So… you're off to Hogwarts again tomorrow." James smiled. "Make me proud."

Harry returned the smile. His father had become increasingly reclusive since the incident, spending more and more time in the study. Harry hadn't really spoken to him in days. "I always try…"

"And you always do."

They sat silently.

"Our conversation." James said abruptly. "Was never finished. There never was a good time… or rather, we never found the initiative. But you're leaving tomorrow, with your young friend." His eyes twinkled, and then he turned serious, leaning forward. "I want you to know, that there was never a moment when I was ashamed of you for being a Slytherin. What you do with what you're given is what really matters. You're a great person, and I'm glad we've finally gotten to know each other, to really become a family. You're a great son. I know you're going to do wonderful things with your life." He sighed.

Harry's eyes stung, and he shrunk down into his chair, shoulders hunched. "I still couldn't help mom… when she really needed it. And now she's gone."

James looked up in surprise, grabbing Harry's arm. "That wasn't your fault, Harry!"

Harry looked away, miserable. _"Yes it was."_

There was a creak in the doorway, where Sirius stood with Samantha. Samantha looked concerned. "What do you mean."

He stared adamantly at the floorboards.

If there was ever a time to tell them the truth, it was now. His hands clenched the cushion tightly. _If only I knew how to say it._

Harry seemed to shiver with indecision.

_Mom might have understood. I don't think Sirius or Dad are ready for the truth._

"The sorting hat was going to put me in Gryffindor, you know." He subtly changed topic. "But it was unsure… it said I would do fine anywhere. It decided that if I had grown up among Dark Elves, I would be most comfortable among the Slytherin type."

Sirius took a seat. "Just kick ass, Harry. Show them how Quidditch is _really_ done."

"Is that all you think about?" Samantha shoved his head angrily. "We're having a _serious _conversation!"

"That and you."

"…forgiven."

* * *

Tracy's POV 

Harry carried their trunks, neatly placed on top of each other, and they stepped into the compartment.

They had waved off the Potters and Sirius minutes earlier, and she had bid farewell to her beautiful room at the mansion. She had spotted several of her Shadow friends, who had waved, and taken note of the presence of her dark companion.

_I swear he's… unnaturally strong. No amount of buffness allows a kid our age to toss my metal inforced leather trunk through the air like that. _

"Well… back we go." He said, dusting his hands off.

The train ride was long and dull, peppered with bits of conversation and speculations on how to keep "Angel" out of trouble for the next several months, and a mini-tournament of exploding snap. The carriage ride was windy, the black shrouded benches swaying on their windy path up to the castle, where the wind whistled and howled between towers and under stone eaves. They hurried into the Great Hall and were quiet happy to be bundled up in the warm glow of multiple fireplaces.

_But where's Harry?_

Tracy turned around, having lost him in a hurry to warm her cold hands. She searched among the students yet to take a seat, and spotted him near the door.

"Come on, Harry, its _freezing_ over here!"

The door that led out of the great all and to the rest of the castle was half way open, and he was fixated upon it as if it would reveal an answer to some great question.

"What is it?"

He continued staring. "I could swear I heard hissing… it was faint."

_Right… _

"There isn't any _hissing,_ Harry, come on and sit before all the good seats are taken."

He complied.

"_Welcome back to Hogwarts!"_ Dumbledore took that moment to broadcast his voice over them. There was rustling as everyone took their seats and got comfortable, chairs scraping over the floor, and gossip stopped.

"_I trust you all had a prosperous Christmas, and nothing too extreme has been brought back to grace our halls in the way of mischievous presents… but I shouldn't be giving you ideas. You'll all be pleased to know that there were no new attacks over the break."_

Harry sighed audibly, sinking down onto his elbows in relief.

"_And you studied your material over break? One can always hope."_

Tracy elbowed him. "Now he's talking to you, Harry." She whispered conspiratorially. "I think you're the only one who really went over your books. And you nearly had an apoplexy when you forgot your precious 'dark species' book, and we had to go back and pick it up. Id' a thought you'd be done with that thing by now."

Harry frowned. "There always seems to be more to read, the stuff is fascinating. And so is the school material, when you actually understand it. You can really see how the different parts of magic really build upon each other, and-"

"Yes, fascinating." She brushed him off, looking beyond, at the staff table. "Snape's looking at us."

"Eh?"

* * *

Harry's POV 

The first few days had been overwhelmingly uneventful, and they all sat around in a state of lethargy, going into shock from being weaned of their spare time. Harry left his homework behind and went looking for Ron. Hermione was gone in the library doing homework for the evening, which meant their freckled friend was probably _not._

Harry moved swiftly towards the great hall, turning and sharp corner and collided with great accuracy into a huge mass.

"Hagrid!" he exclaimed. Spotting a trio of dead roosters in Hagrid's hand, his smile fell through the floor.

"Hullo Hagrid." He said dully. "What's _that?_" he asked with a certain amount of irony.

"Roosters. They're going fast these days… killed. I finally had 'em replaced, after I lost some of 'em las' year. Sommit's gettin' at em. Dunno what… could be almost anything. Tha Forbidden Forest, it's always hungry."

Harry nodded. _Don't I know it._

"There's only one left, now."

Harry's eyes hardened. "… one left?"

"Yes, it hurt its foot, so I let it res' in me hut."

_The others are used to not seeing me for hours at a time. I could do almost anything… and nobody would notice._

"Was spared." Hagrid blinked, looking around the hall for this young friend. "Now where did he go?"

Harry came up to Hagrid's hut, sneaking around where an over reinforced hutch was enclosed with haphazardly nailed boards and twists of barbed wire. It looked like a fortress. Several shattered boards lay near by, and you could see where a hole had been torn open, and repaired.

Harry picked up one of the boards. _What on earth…?_

It looked almost shattered. _Who would have done this… they had something to use for leverage, that's for sure. _

Peering into the window, Harry spotted the last rooster, swathed in blankets on the table. Prying the window open with ease, he hand his hands around it before it could even squawk out. He held it close to his body and wrapped it into his cloak, tucking the end under itself in a big knot so the rooster was held securely to his chest.

Instead of trekking all the way around the building or risking the rooster into the abyss of the mists, Harry took a suddenly running start at the nearest wall. The rooster, head poking out of the folds, looked alarmed.

"Rraw?" he asked.

* * *

Inside

Alec Morgan, young Ravenclaw, was making his way to the common room when he happened to take a glance out a window. His eyes bugged.

Outside, a slim figure in black leapt up the side of the castle, bounding up the sheer stone like a climbing wall. With a jump, it disappeared above and to his left onto an overhanging ledge.

He stood motionless, jaw slack. A reddish feather floated slowly down past the window.

_I… didn't just see that Slytherin boy climb the wall._

_I didn't. _

_Too much pumpkin juice. No more, Alec._

The conveniently open window on the fifth floor allowed Harry access to a chute behind a nearby portrait of a yapping terrier that sent you several floors down. Orienting himself, he set off, coming to a stop at his destination.

_Moaning Myrtle's bathroom._

Harry slowly opened the door to a long, ceaseless creak. The room was reliably empty. There was a sing-song gurgling from somewhere underneath the floor, but his entrance had gone unnoticed. Stepping surely and silently over the sink, he pinched the rooster's beak shut with his right hand.

He blinked his slanted elven eyes, studying the snake on the tap by the dim flickering light from above. He tried to imagine it moving, and then stepped back in surprise.

The snake _was_ moving. It seemed to be responding to him, its writhing picking up speed as his hand neared. A finger touched the pipe.

It was ice cold. Slowly, the carving of the snake curled into a full circle, around his finger.

"_Open."_ he said, captivated.

The floor below him shuttered, and he stumbled back, rust flaking off into the air as the sink came into rough, grinding contact with the wall. Holding his breath, he plunged in.

_THUMP. _

Harry stood motionless in the long ominous hallway that ultimately let to the belly of the beast. He marched forward, unobtrusively reaching into his cloak and pulling out his rooster. He held it up with one hand, hand keeping it shut for the moment.

He stood defiantly, eyes scouring the hall. _I've come for you._

"_Come on out!"_ he suddenly yelled. His voice echoed, rebounding to him threefold.

He walked forward again. He reached down, fingers untwining from around the neck of the rooster. It clucked lightly, and followed at his heels, head bobbing.

"_Come out…"_ he hissed calculatingly. The rooster hopped forward skittishly, and he prodded at it.

"Whenever you're ready, my friend." He told it.

Something rasped in the tunnel ahead and Harry froze. His eyes covered every inch of ground and wall ahead. _Where are you, beast?_

He stopped. _What?_

Harry jerked around, looked around to an adjoining tunnel. The rooster was gone. He turned around quickly, trying to figure out where it could have gone. Something caught his eye- a lone feather floating slowly to the ground a couple yards away.

The feeling of being watched overcame him. He stood alone in the hall, and he gripped a knife until his knuckles turned white.

_I think it's time to leave._


	34. The Parseltongue

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Parseltongue

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry had left the chamber behind and moved quietly through Hogwarts, paying no attention to passing students.

"Harry… there you are!" Somebody grabbed his arm, and he started, hands speeding to his pockets, and restrained himself from holding his disruption at knife point.

"Uh…" He blinked slowly, looking vacantly into their face. "Hermione!" he exclaimed, wild curls and bright eyes coming into focus.

"What's wrong with you?" she demanded, bemused.

"Nothing." he said softly, and was about to walk on.

"Hold it right there. You're never around anymore, come hang out with us! We have… food…"

He lifted an eyebrow. _I haven't eaten since yesterday night… perhaps its time._

"Sure. Let's go." She hooked elbows with him, and brought him over to where the twins, some of their friends and Ron sat with several large foaming bottles of what Harry first mistook as butterbeer, but was sorely mistaken. For one it was bright red. To appearances, it looked like the mischief makers had moved on to bigger and greater things. He also noted that nobody seemed to be touching the stuff.

"Eh… cup, Harry?" George asked, slinging the red liquid around by the bottle neck.

"How about _not_." Harry eyed them. "You try to trick me, and I'll personally turn you both into flower pots."

Fred looked disappointed, frowning. "How did you know that's what it does?"

"Harry!" somebody suddenly yelled, and Harry turned. Surprisingly enough, it was someone he had never met before. She sat straddle style on a wide bench, across from Ginny Weasley. As he turned towards them, Ginny's eyes went wide in shock and they burst into giggles.

"I can't believe you just did that." She gasped. Harry waved, and the girl fell off the bench.

Ginny got up. "Uh… yeah. Harry this is my best friend Darla." She waved back, pulling the girl to her feet.

Darla wasn't beautiful in any sense of the word. She was short and heavyset, with jowls and meaty arms, plus her eyes were set deep in her head, a dark muddy color. Coming face to face with Harry, she seemed a bit taken back and sat down silently, turning her face away. Sneaking a look at him, she decided that it was time to stride away dramatically. Ginny followed after, stumbling a bit.

"Mum says she's a sweetheart. Ain't much to look at though…" Ron said ruefully. "She's kind of strange. Real quiet, though Ginny really brings something out in her. They seem to be fast friends, Ginny didn't seem to have anybody close to her before Darla came along."

Harry sat in the library, getting some of his studying done. He opened his transfiguration book, poring through the pages. _You know, this is actually doable. Some of it's easy, but a lot of stuff I didn't get the first time around. _He grinned ironically. _This review thing is really working for me, I guess._

Somebody slid into place into the seat across from him, and Harry looked up, expecting Draco or maybe Ron. It was Darla.

"Without your other half today I see." He commented, noting her lack of red haired friend.

Darla nodded. He waited for an explanation but she just looked at the table, glancing up at him periodically.

"So you're Ron's friend." she said. "A lot of people really highly of you."

"I guess they do."

She scowled, looking down at her hands. He waited patiently, wondering what she wanted.

"So where do you come from, have both your parents still?" She asked, an almost bitter quality to her voice.

A pang went through Harry's heart. "Yeah… both of them." he lied. _That was a really odd question._

She leaned closer. "You from around here?"

"Yup. Family lived here for generations."

"I see…" she nodded slowly, leaning back again.

"Anything I can help you with?" he asked finally.

"No, nothing at all." She got to her feet, smiled unconvincingly at him and disappeared around a bookshelf.

_That was a bit strange, _he decided. _I guess Ron was right. _

Harry turned back to his book, and then shifted, uncomfortable. He wasn't wearing one of his knifes, a short, very sharp one that he usually kept in the small of his back, and it was irritating. He couldn't seem to find it anywhere. In fact, it was one of several he seemed to have replaced recently. Discreetly Harry pulled a similar one from his boot and slipped it under his shirt.

* * *

Snape's POV

The floor creaked as Severus Snape walked unfalteringly back and forth across the Headmaster's office. The door opened.

"You called for me, Professor?" Harry Potter asked, stepping into the room.

Dumbledore nodded. "Take a seat, please, Harry."

Harry complied, sliding one from across the room and sitting attentively at the left end of the large desk. He leaned against the wood, eyes flickering back and forth between the Potions master and the old man. "What's going on."

"Some fool fancies himself the son of The Dark Lord." Snape rolled his eyes, finally coming to a stop in front of the other two.

Harry crossed his arms. "Lord Trucido." He said softly. Dumbledore leaned forward, blinking in surprise.

"You've heard of this man?" he inquired.

Harry nodded, and then hesitated. Snape narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Some people I knew were talking about him. They mentioned he was trying to recruit."

"You aren't taking this _seriously_, are you Dumbledore?" Snape asked, incredulous. "It's just some young wizard who thinks he can get power and respect by claiming to be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's heir."

"Lucius is with him." Dumbledore pointed out. Snape's disbelief crumbled.

"They're trying to…recruit!" he demanded, thumping into a chair. "Are you sure?"

"That was years ago. I couldn't have been more than seven or eight." Harry added.

Dumbledore regarded them solemnly. "I'm trying to locate them as we speak. I thought it best to warn you, Harry, in case this Trucido fellow decides you, as Voldemort's defeator, are his target. It's very likely."

Harry nodded. "I'd forgotten about him… it's been so long." He closed his eyes, drawn back into reflection.

"Since what?" Snape asked, puzzled

Harry blinked languidly. "Since- the time when I heard of him."

Snape just looked back. _What is it about this kid?_

"Harry," Dumbledore interrupted. "Before you go…you don't have any information, about the Chamber of Secrets, that might help us out, do you?"

They waited but Harry just looked at them. He seemed stricken.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked. Harry seemed to draw within himself without moving, eyelids gliding down to form slits and fingers curling deliberately around the arms of his chair.

There was a long, pregnant pause.

"None." Harry said softly, almost sadly. "None at all."

He took his leave before they even noticed. Suddenly he was at the door, and a slim boot heel disappeared as he drew it out behind him. Snape leaned back in his chair, idly gazing at the door.

_He's definitely grown. _Snape thought. _It's been years… I never really thought about the day that he would return to Hogwarts, as a student. That's most likely because we never expected to find him again. I- we, spent years of effort and manpower scouring the world to no avail, and then he just drops out of the sky. _

_Then naturally he goes home to daddy James, _He thought, a bit crossly. _I sure hope he doesn't become another clone, a James- mold like all pretty-boy's admirers back in school. _

_At least he came home safe, _he thought, and for once was not surprised at himself for thinking it.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Dumbledore asked Severus, a half smile on his face.

Snape snorted. "Not a chance in hell."

* * *

Jason Wolfsbane

Feather of a Swann was a casual restaurant that captivated the glamorous. It had a deep plush interior that combined dark rich colors with exotic flowers and the light yellows and greens of plant-life. It cascaded out of its building on Diagon Alley and out onto a broad raised wooden deck where antique looking yet magically stable dining tables and chairs clustered. In a back corner of the deck at a fairly plain table that always seemed to have branches drawn around it by the tree above, Jason raised his glass to his lips.

Across from him, Moody slid down further in his seat, taking a swig from his hip-flask. "Let's cut the crap." He said, irritated, leaning forward and almost falling out of his chair to stare at Jason intently. "We're here because I believe that you have some information that I should have." he rasped.

Jason stared back, not surprised. "Now where did you get that idea?"

"Just an impression I got over our talks." He divulged. "You're keeping secrets from me, friend."

"Am I?" Jason asked, skeptical. _This relationship is getting a bit clichéd. _

_So what am I going to do? _Jason rubbed his forehead tiredly. _I think I know I just have to figure out why I shouldn't obey the law officials like Moody here…_ He sighed, and determination crept into his voice.

"I think you are mistaken." he said to Moody.

Moody's eyes flickered. "Excuse me?"

"You are mistaken." he said louder. "I have nothing that would be interest of you. But if you ever have need of a decent Deimonologist," he raised his glass. "I'm the one to ask."

Moody's eyebrows lowered dangerously. "I have my eye on you." he said quietly. Jason laughed, and the scarred Auror got to his feet and strode away, disappearing dramatically into the crowd.

Jason ordered another drink and settled down in his chair, deciding to relax in The Feather's scenic panoramic view of a Wizard paradise.

_I have a hunch… I'm not sure what to think of it. Harry Potter…_

_Harry Potter is an enigma. _He decided. _But he's an enigma I'd much rather keep to myself._

* * *

Harry's POV 

"Where did you get this?" Hermione shrieked, almost tearing it apart.

"Library." He said. _I have been ignoring them lately, but I want to make up for it. _Honestly, he'd bought it from a limited edition bookstore, it had cost a fortune. _I know she wanted this one particularly badly._

She shook. "I searched the entire library… seven times, Harry."

"It was misplaced." He took the copy of Dam Jastanial's Collected Works of Barely Legal Original Spells and tossed it onto the table. "It was in the Gardening Magic section."

She giggled insanely, kissing the cover. "This has got to be one of the only copies ever." She squealed, somehow smacking Ron in the face. He fell backward. "There are whole _books_ devoted to the theories it contains!"

"Which naturally, you've read." Harry grinned. "I knew there was a party animal in you _somewhere_.".

"Eh!" Ron stumbled by. "No-the!" _Nose?_

"…and somehow I'm not surprised that this tattered paperback brought it out in you," he finished as she ignored Ron and flipped through the pages hungrily. Something beyond her caught Harry's eye, and he focused in on it.

Jason Wolfsbane was passing by the doorway. Seeing Harry he stopped, gazing coolly at the trio, and then turned away to walk briskly away. Harry was confused by the glance and started for the door, and for some unbeknownst reason Hermione followed close behind, leaving Ron beaten to the floor.

She hopped slightly as they went down the hall, but seemed too enraptured to make a sound, so Harry didn't mind. He stopped at the next corner and peered around. Hermione kept going down the hall, appearing not to notice he had stopped.

Snape and Professor Dumbledore had been watching students on the grounds below through the window, engaged in conversation, and Professor Wolfsbane headed in their direction. Harry leaned against the wall, sliding down a bit and listened closely. His keen hearing picked up their footsteps. Hermione continued on and the others turned and awaited Wolfbane's approach.

"You wouldn't happen to have a plan, would you Headmaster?" Snape mumbled before their comrade was in hearing distance.

"None at the moment, Severus. We may have to wait until more information arises."

"Don't you think then it might be too late?"

Hermione muttered unintelligibly. Harry frowned. _What are they talking about?_

"Jason." Dumbledore said, acknowledging Professor Wolfsbane.

"Dumbledore, Snape. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"No new attacks if that's what you're asking."

Hermione suddenly screamed, her shriek echoing down to Harry, burning pain for his sensitive ears. He spun around the corner, and seeing her frozen at the other end of the hall, he rocketed in her direction. _I never should have given her that book!_

She had dropped it, and it lay between her feet as she threw her head back to shriek in fright at the huge _rip_ that appeared in the air in front of her. From her proximity apparently she could see something that they couldn't. All watching felt the sudden need to get their wand between themselves and the awful rip that hung in the air itself.

The professors went for her, and Harry stopped, unsure. The rip seemed to be unchanging for the moment. Snape picked up the book and looked distastefully at it. "Dam Jastaniel." He said, displeased. "Royal Bastard. Genius, but a complete and utter-" he stopped, checking his language. "This should be in the restricted section. Where did you get it, girl?"

Hermione was verging on hysterics. "Harry. Harry Potter gave it to me. He said he found it in the Gardening section."

Dumbledore opened his mouth, no doubt to proclaim some wise verdict on the situation, but he never got the chance for at that moment the rip tore wide open and hell rained down upon them.

It was a huge mass of dirty slime, spiders, and writhing, poisonous snakes. The spiders bounced on the floor, attempting to skitter away, and Hermione's scream was cut short as her hair filled with slime and snakes curled around her body, pulling her to the ground.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled. The three Professors had fallen back. Having turned their attention to Hermione the moment the rip appeared, they had never even noticed Harry's presence. Suddenly he was there, and they had no clue where he might have come from.

"_Get off her. RIGHT NOW!" _he yelled in Parseltongue, his mouth working franticly to accommodate the bizarre and exotic language. _"NOBODY is to touch the girl! All you get back NOW!"_

The snakes slid back rapidly into an accumulative heap, their slit eyes watching him attentively. An extremely large specimen lifted his head, nodding in a humanoid fashion.

"_As you wish."_

Hermione looked up at him, eyes wide. He took her arms and helped her to her feet, and she wiped the slime off of her face on his sleeve.

"Crap Harry. Legal or barely legal, I'm not _touching_ that stuff." She eyed him speculatively. "That was _Parseltongue_, Harry."

"Yes_, it was_." Snape said with fervor. Jason Wolfbane nearly swallowed his tongue.

* * *

Tracy's POV

Tracy had a nagging suspicion that there was a Shadows meeting going on that very minute that she hadn't been invited to. The others had been strangely uninformative about their plans for the next meeting, and now she couldn't find a single one of them. She didn't feel like going and looking for them, but the whole charade was totally against their policy. She scowled, irritated.

_I hate this. I'm stuck here studying, and I can't even find a simple book on artificial plant-life reduction for Herbology!_

She moved among the shelves, now deep in the heart of the library. Recognizing a familiar voice a couple aisles over, she went for it in relief. _Harry. At last! _

"Harry do you realize how _serious _this is?" Hermione's stricken voice projected over to her, even over the private quality of her hushed voice. Tracy stopped abruptly, not wanting to walk in on some big scene.

"You have no idea." was his reply.

"They're already after you because of some lame suspicion that you're the heir of Slytherin."

"Believe me, I'm not."

"You can't know that!"

"Heirs of Slytherin don't get into Gryffindor, no matter _what _the consequences." This was said softly, almost inwardly.

"… but you didn't."

He didn't answer, but Tracy could practically see his face before her, smiling wryly. _What is going on here? _

"All I know is from now on, I'm staying out of the lake. It now hosts a plethora of writhing, poisonous snakes out to get my blood."

"I wouldn't worry about that. I don't think they would touch you, Hermione." Harry said. "EVER."


	35. Raphael's Confession

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five: Raphael's Confession

* * *

_Harry's POV _

In the following weeks Harry only isolated himself further. He crept about the castle undetectable, in the secret passageways, hidden rooms, and niches. He never came to meals anymore, and was rarely seen at all. Harry's favorite place was Needle Tower, where he'd moved in. The stairs weren't much of an obstacle; he either bounded up them or simply floated straight upward though the ceiling. The staircase was a deterrent for any wandering explorers, only the professors knew the tower was there, and it was a bit hard to find even then. He'd dragged a mattress up there some time ago, which took quite a while and it was difficult to find a spare mattress. There were lots of empty rooms and deserted classrooms, but not many furnished bedrooms. After a search he found a private room and raided it. There were even sheets and a quilt in a dresser drawer.

_I'm hungry… I should go down to the house elves and get some food. _

A minute later Harry was walking through the halls nearing the kitchens, walking so close to the wall was practically scraping against it. He almost made it to the kitchens without anyone spotting him, but not quite. Things had gone downhill since word of his being a Parselmouth got out, and he had absolutely no patience for stares and whispers this time around. His disappearance didn't help his reputation.

It was Darla. She leaned against the wall, without any clear purpose. She gave him a sideways glance, watching him intently.

_Why am I always running into her?_ he wondered. _She just pops up everywhere… at least she doesn't taunt me or say anything. _Harry had a thought: _If it was Ginny who was obsessed with me last time… maybe she still is I don't know but perhaps Darla has taken her place. Why else would she be following me? Maybe Tom Riddle is trying to find a way to get at me. _

_Am I worried? I'm prepared this time, aren't I? I know all the secrets and how to defeat the Chamber of Secrets, I have even more advantages due to new abilities, it should be a piece of cake. _But Harry wasn't as sure as he was trying to convince himself he was.

Harry whipped his head around, stopping to stare at Darla intensely. Right as he had passed by her he'd seen something dark move by quickly in the corner of his eye. She looked a bit alarmed. Harry's eyes searched the hall but he saw nothing, nothing that would have moved by at such a pace.

_Maybe it moved fast enough that it's around the corner already. _Harry weighed his options. _Breakfast… or chasing dark things… breakfast… or…_ _No it's not around the corner. I distinctly saw it disappear. _Noticing her wide eyed look he swept onward down the hall. The house elves doted on him, so at least someone wanted him around. They all reminded him of Dobby every time he went to the kitchen. Harry wondered if he'd ever see Dobby again.

He completely stuffed himself with eggs, sausage, and fruit tarts, which took quite a while as can be imagined. He finished off half a tables' worth. He'd chosen to sit at the Gryffindor table. He usually sat there. Harry felt drowsy all of a sudden, which was odd since he'd had several hours of sleep up in his tower.

The back of the fruit canvas suddenly flipped up, and Tracy strode into the room, seeing him she grinned triumphantly. "Gotcha!" She said, dragging a chair to sit across from him. She looked surprised to find herself at the Gryffindor table, and raised an eyebrow at him. Her face blurred for a moment, the room growing hazy. He blinked several times, and Tracy came back into focus.

"Coffee?" Harry asked, and a house elf scurried off. He didn't much like coffee, but it did the trick.

"You haven't been sleeping again, have you?" She said in a scolding voice.

"As a matter of fact, I have."

"Whatever you say. Harry, you didn't come to the Shadow meeting last night, I told you there would be one!"

"I was busy." He hadn't wanted to go, and had deliberately put it out of his mind.

"You need to come, you're just confirming your status as prime suspect for the Heir of Slytherin. Well… everyone is already convinced you are, but I think if you spoke to the Shadows they would back you. They're used to being discriminated against and the whole point is to fight that kind of thing. They would be very understanding, if you only came to the meetings and participated a bit." She pleaded.

"Maybe." He said curtly. "Participate in what?"

"Well we usually don't do all that much, if we've got some kind of objective we then plan and act on it. Like say, one of us is in TROUBLE." She gave him a look that made Harry know that he was definitely in 'trouble' and she was determined to take care of it. "Well… we were thinking to sneak out. You know, explore the Forbidden Forest a bit. We'd be quite safe as a group I'm sure. We know— as an understatement— a few useful spells. Who knows, being familiar with the forest a bit could come in handy." She rolled her eyes. "They wouldn't approve of me telling you this kind of stuff."

"But I'm a Shadow."

"Not unless you come to the meetings, you're not! And if nobody's seen you in weeks, you no longer exist." She wrinkled her nose. "Well we did have a meeting on Sunday where you were brought up…"

"What." He asked dryly.

"Well Alex said that we should keep an eye out for you. A Harry Potter watch. If you're not seen, they were considering hunting you down and demand some answers. Why you're hiding, if you're still one of us. I don't think… I don't think you can not be a Shadow after you've been initiated. If you're a risk they might threaten you to into silence or obliviate you." She shrugged. "I'm not really worried, though. I think you're too valuable to loose. They're sure you have useful secrets and would like you to be a constructive member. They told me I have to report if I see you. I'm going to report you, but only because I see no harm in saying you were in the kitchen eating food. Suspicious? I think not."

"I don't like people much." Harry stated.

"What about me?"

"You're… pretty okay." He said quietly.

"Pretty okay…" She looked sad.

"You're fine."

"Fine?"

"Uh… alright… you're my best friend."

"Good." She grinned. "And as your best friend, I'm not one you need to hide from. We should hang out more often. Meet for breakfast again maybe?"

"Sounds okay to me." Harry relaxed. Even Hermione and Ron acted odd around him since the Dam Jastaniel incident. Hermione would start talking a mile a minute, desperately trying to make conversation, but Tracy looked at ease.

Feeling woozy again, he gulped coffee, blinking some more.

"Harry." He peered at her blearily. "I'm concerned about you. Being so isolated and antisocial isn't… er… healthy!"

"How so?"

"I dunno. That's just something my aunt says a lot." She grimaced. "When she doesn't approve of something. I can't stand being at their house. At mealtimes she gripes at me all the time, criticizing everything about me and disparaging how my parents raised me, everything they did wrong, what I mess they've raised."

"That's dumb. That sounds exactly like my aunt, actually, always going on about how great my cousin Dudley is and how my parents were good for nothing scum. _Are_ good for nothing scum." He corrected himself. "You're not a mess at all."

"My aunt ignores her sons, but she sometimes says 'at least my boys turned out right'. Like I said, she talks non-stop at mealtimes, but then disappears. I don't even know where she goes, but she's always gone." Tracy was looking down at the table, Harry could tell she really didn't want to say anything further on the topic. _What's so terrible that she's not telling me? She'd been adamant about not staying with them during the summer, too. _

"Not healthy." She repeated, changing the subject back. "Are you planning to quit the Quidditch team, too? Merlin, Harry!"

"No, I wouldn't quit Quidditch. I just don't go to the practices. It's not like I'm doing anything useful there, and besides, I don't need practice."

"You are so full of yourself."

Harry grinned. Tracy winked out of existence. The smile dropped off his face. In her place was a great expanse of bark. "What the hell?" He demanded loudly, confused, and annoyed at being confused.

"Harry-" Somebody started behind him, but was cut off.

Tracy was shaking him. "You fell asleep! Almost toppled into the food, you would have a face full of table if I hadn't caught you." She glared. "Go to bed. Now."

"I slept, I swear."

"Obviously you need to sleep some more then. Now _go_!"

"But-"

"I said go!"

He did. Walking up to the back side of the canvas, Harry waved to her and pushed his way through. As he turned around the corner of the hall he felt someone following him.

"Tracy?" he called, turning around. But there was no one there. _I swear there had been someone behind me._ He frowned. He knew he did indeed need sleep. Finding a passageway entrance, he tapped on a knot on the wood floor five times, then gave it a good kick. The wood gave a loud sigh. "That was rude. I was sleeping."

"I know. That's why I kicked you."

"Rude!" The ground dropped out from under him and he landed hard on his butt as a crack appeared and the planks around him tilted, sliding him down underneath the floor.

"Always works." He muttered under his breath. Focusing on the task at hand, he sat down in and closed his eyes, letting himself lighten. He felt the air moving through him and tucked his feet under him as he floated up, and then they were no longer there. The plank proved no obstacle and he passed right through it. It shivered as he did so, and he pulled himself free, a bit shaken up. He looked around intently. He rarely did this outside of the tower; he'd learned his lesson with Professor Wolfsbane. He was invisible unless you knew exactly what to look for, but unfortunately the professor did, and went about it determinedly. Harry had passed him in the hall several times as he stared up into the air above him, hand twitching in his pocket. He only did it now because he felt he didn't have the energy to go all the way to the far side of Hogwarts where Needle Tower was and take even one of the stairs.

He stopped midair at another burst of movement, again out of the corner of his eye. He spun around determinedly. What had been barely visible to him before now came into focus. It was Raphael, the snake, who peered at him intensely before disappearing around the corner. Harry chased after, but as he expected his past consciousness incarnate had disappeared more than just around a corner. Harry was confused. _Why does he keep flitting around, can't he talk to me directly?_

Harry checked for corporeal threats; the coast was clear. It would be better to travel through the walls where no one could find him, but it was a bit draining and he lost track of where he was going. He bobbed in and out of the wall as he went, halfway in, halfway out, looking out to orient himself and then plunging into darkness and rocketing forward. Needle Tower he took straight up as usual.

He didn't realize how badly he wanted to sleep until he saw his bed in front of him. It looked so warm and comfortable, and the quilt was thick and perfect to nest in. He fell into it, kicking his boots off and vanishing under his quilt. He drifted into darkness, sleeping peacefully.

His peace ended abruptly. Face to face with bark again, he backed up far enough to see his tree. He hadn't traveled into his subconscious for some time, and hadn't recognized it at first. He stood on his hill, looking around. It was darker than usual, the sky obscured with thick clouds.

"Harry!" Talons dug into his shoulder. Arlene flapped her wings, shaking him.

"What? What? Stop that!" She settled down, satisfied with pecking at his ear. "Ow!"

"I've been trying to reach you all morning!"

"Maybe I was busy."

"BUSY! How can you be busy, this is important!"

"Passing out during breakfast was not convenient."

She nipped him hard and Harry swore she drew blood. "You're being impertinent."

"Aren't I the consciousness? And this is the subconscious world… doesn't that put me in charge?"

"Where did you get that idea! We share this body-"

"You do?"

"Of course we do. We live in your subconscious, where did you think we went. We're stuck on your damn hill, thanks. You could make some pretty flowers, at least. Maybe something interesting… like a big statue! Or a well!"

"You find a well interesting? What's interesting about a well? And what do you want a statue for, to crap on?"

"INSOLENCE!"

A bit afraid now that she would attack his head Harry sidled away from the tree, but as she was seated on his shoulder she came right along. Harry felt silly. He tried distracting her. "Uh… what's so important?"

"Raphael."

"Why does he keep following me?" Harry asked. _And I thought it was Darla at first… I guess she really WASN'T up to anything._

"Well if you remember when your mother disappeared-" Harry's shoulders slumped and she almost slid off but continued, "- he ran off. Well… I haven't seen him since."

"So I'm taking that's unusual then. I thought you were stuck on the hill."

"That's the only place we're _real_, but we _can_ leave. But yes, that's unusual. I tried not to be worried or anything-"

"What about Gabriel? I rarely see him, how come you're so worried about Raphael?"

"Gabriel's probably out staring at fruit trees or something. He's a bit of a flake."

"Oh well that's comforting."

"But Raphael and I hang out here most of the time. Gabriel stops through to attack the tree sometimes- don't worry it's indestructible from this end- he finds it amusing. It's been quite lonely all alone here. I don't find the real world very interesting. What's the point of watching people who can't even see me, when I don't much know anything about what they are doing, anyway? I can't think of a reason. I've become increasingly concerned about the situation, Raphael is very upset about something and he stormed through and yelled at me for a bit. Something about having enough and needing to talk to you. I said I would try to reach you but when it wasn't working he left."

"It's not like he came up and talked to me or anything. He just traipsed around all mysterious-like and stared at me."

She sighed, exasperated. "Look, I don't know anything."

Harry stood for a moment. The hill was silent. _This is just odd. Why does everything have to be confusing? Did I mention odd?_ He shook Arlene off and sat down, and she perched on his knee, peering out expectantly. A few minutes passed.

"LOOK!" Arlene cried out. Harry looked. There was nothing. "I think I saw him. What does he think he's doing out there?"

"_Practicing_ being weird. I'd say he's pro level now."

"You are getting on my nerves."

Harry leaned back against the tree, contemplating things. _I give up. This is all beyond me… Raphael reminds me of so many things, though. Going back in time. Being here in this life. It's so different. Not so obvious to me but… I'm pretty different too. Living with the Dursleys had made me so quiet and sheepish! It makes me dislike them even more. I never got to actually come out of my shell and be comfortable with myself. Maybe I couldn't tell that much then, but now I can. I got to actually live a real childhood, it makes such a difference in my confidence. Sure the whole thing was a bit depressing. What with not being with my parents, and running around in the woods. Nevertheless, that's a step up than not being with my parents and living in a goddamn closet._

Suddenly something twined around his arm, and Harry looked down surprised at Raphael, who slithered forward over his leg and down onto the ground before them, curling his body and drawing his head up to look them in the eye. "There you are." Harry said, "What in Merlin's name is going on here?"

Raphael stared back. "I was told not to tell you, or there would be consequences."

"... but you are anyway. Is that the reason you've been hiding about?"

"Yes. They see _everything_. I kept my mouth shut as ordered for as long as I could stand it, but I can't take it anymore. It's insanity." Raphael whipped his tail about, agitated.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"THEM."

"Could you be more specific?" Harry asked, "Spit it out already."

"I'm talking about The Thirteen. It's about what happened to your mother. It was no accident."

Harry sat unmoving, stunned.

"You were told it couldn't be helped, we had no choice in the matter, that we were used by forces unknown. Lies. All of them. It simply does not work like that. There is no random force that moves people around, it's a ridiculous concept. I was forced to cooperate, but by them."

"WHY? Why would they do that!"

Raphael shook his head. "I'm sorry, they didn't say. I felt I had no choice anymore, I couldn't not tell you the truth and still retain a shred of morality. Because... I think I found your mother."

Harry's mind was reeling. "When is she?"

"Now."

"I thought they sent her to another time?" Harry demanded.

"They did. I'm not sure but I think she's still around. Maybe she doesn't know you're here, maybe they have some hold over her, I don't know. But I can show you where she is."

"How are we going to get there?"

"Uh…"

"Sounds efficient. Raphael, this is important."

"We'll have to see. I'm thinking your best bet is mist form… if I remember correctly the banshees could travel great distances very quickly. I wonder if you can successfully follow me."

"I'll have to try." Harry said.

"I'll go locate her again then, hopefully she's stayed put. I'll find you as soon as I do."

"Thanks, Raphael." Harry touched the snake lightly on the head. "

"Maybe if we get you happy again, we'll get a well." Raphael said brightly. "With a bucket."

Harry's cheek twitched. "As I am grateful, I will make no comment."

When he woke, Harry had the feeling he may have slept for a while. Annoyed he rolled out of bed, now completely alert.

Raphael unwrapped himself from where he'd been loosely around Harry's neck. Harry was surprised, he hadn't noticed him there.

"Those BASTARDS!" Harry raged. "I trusted them and kept their damn secrets of their existence, their powers, and my time traveling, from _everyone,_ even my own mother. I am royally pissed off now. I don't care how, but I'm going to get them back."

"Somehow." Raphael agreed. "Don't worry Harry. In any case, I'm defecting and they can't do anything big without the entirety of the Thirteen. I think if I stay in your head and don't leave they can't get their hands on me without you letting them in. They have no hope of that happening. I'll go now and see we get this done as soon as possible. I've left Arlene alone long enough, I should have done this earlier." He disappeared.

Harry dropped through the floor. _Really, this is extremely handy. Very efficient._

Harry grinned. _I am so awesome. _He laughed, knowing what Tracy would say to that. His depression was lifted, he had hope now. He took the halls at a run, relishing the feeling. He stopped near the library uncertainly, scanning it. It was pretty empty. He headed for the Great Hall. At the large entrance doors, he stopped and peered in from behind the wall. Sure enough, it was lunch and the Hall was crowded. It was an old, familiar sight. Still, he waited by the doors.

After half a minute or so, he finally decided to go inside. He swept in confidently and approached the Slytherin table. Those who noticed him stopped and stared, astonished. Tracy had his back to him and he pushed a fifth year aside (who gave the small second-year Harry a scandalized look) and took a seat.

"Hey person." He said casually, looking around and the table watching him. "… Hi."

He gave Alexander a small smirk, and he actually smiled back. Tracy eyed him, chewing slowly. She poked him hard in the side. "You're real!"

"Astonishing."

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Lunch."

She frowned as he looked for some dessert. Finding an entire pie he pulled several slices onto his place and started stuffing his face, not bothering with a fork. People were still watching him, but Harry paid no mind. _I remember when that would have bothered me._

"Did you get some rest, then?" He nodded in response.

"Well that's something. Eating is good, too." She said and he nodded again.

"You are disgusting, you know that?" She continued.

Harry gave her his best grin and shrugged, swallowing. "You almost done?" he asked.

Tracy pushed her plate away, and he dumped his food and found a napkin to wipe his hands clean. They were still pretty nasty so he jerked his head toward the door, heading for the nearest bathroom and disappearing inside for a moment to wash his hands. He looked at her speculatively. "I think I'd really like to show you something."

She smiled. "I'm intrigued."

Tracy followed him silently through Hogwarts, and the look on her face changed over time. The smile changed to confusion, then annoyance as they went further and further.

"You haven't reached the worst part yet." He commented. Stopping at a door, he exclaimed "Stairs!" and flung it open. The steps to Needle Tower stretched before them endless, and Tracy tired quickly, and limped along sending him scathing glances whenever possible.

"What's the point, Harry?" She asked tiredly.

"I thought I'd give you the full tour." He practically bounded with energy.

Her feet dragged, but a few minutes later they reached the door at the top. They stopped and she caught her breath leaning against the wall. Pushing herself up again, she eyed the door curiously.

"Voila!" He exclaimed and threw the door open. They went in and Tracy looked around in interest. There wasn't much to the small round room, there was a rug, bed, and dresser he'd hauled up there. Getting the bed through the door had been a bit of a challenge, He'd finally found a spell that made it elastic like rubber and then squished it through. The best part was the windows with window seats, he'd thrown a couple pillows around. His stuff was stuffed in the dresser and spilling out. Hedwig was perched on the sill of a window left open for her, and her cage was open in the corner.

"This is where you've been staying?" She sounded impressed.

"I like privacy."

"Yes, I see how that might come about. Who IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would take those stairs?" She poked at a large glass bowl filled with a clear jelly like substance, watching it jiggle.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you. Spell materials residue. Slightly hazardous." She backed off. Harry glanced at her with an expression of superiority, smirking. "Well, at least I'm in _shape._"

"I'd drop that subject right now if you enjoy having a head."

"Point taken." He looked around the room. "I knew I should have found some chairs. I got a bit frustrated with dragging all my stuff up here and didn't bother. Nobody ever came up here anyway. This will have to do." He grabbed a few pillows off the ground and arranged them on a long, wide, window seat and curled up on one end. Tracy sat on the other side.

"WHAT?" Tracy yelped so loudly Harry jumped.

"I didn't say anything!"

"NO! What's… going on over there?"

Harry followed her gaze. Sitting on the bench had put the other side of Harry's bed into view, and in the corner was a pile of gold that had accumulated over time. Fury in cat form was rolling around in it, kneading it with her claws and purring.

"Not quite sure." He said, raising an eyebrow at Fury. "Bad Angel. No more stealing."

"Now that's just creepy." Tracy turned back to the window, biting her lip.

"You wouldn't even be able to imagine." He said softly, looking out the window too. They sat there for a couple minutes, watching the tiny people far away on the other side of the grounds move about, not saying a word.

Tracy sighed resignedly. "Alright then. Enlighten me."

Harry felt uncomfortable. His tongue seemed glued to the roof of his mouth. "I… well… it's rather long… complicated…" She waited. "I don't know how to even tell you. You're going to think I'm completely insane, but it's all true. I've never told… _anybody _before."

"How many times have I told you you can trust me? I would never tell anybody about this place, or any secrets you decide to share with me. You're my closest friend… even though I never see you I feel I could count on you to be there if I just needed it. I don't give a damn about what the Shadows think, or how the school sees you. I know who you really are."

"Do you?" He said, voice squeaky. "You may not... like me anymore."

"Shut up Harry. I decide that, not you." She looked at him intently and waited.

"I'm from the future."

"...come again?"

"I'm from the future. I was about to start my fifth year. . . then I blacked out and was suddenly in my own body as an infant. I didn't understand at the time, but I later found out that a group, called the Thirteen, was responsible. Working together, they are strong enough to move people about in time." He mumbled under his breath, something that contained several cuss words.

Tracy digested this. "That is bizarre! They must be really powerful. Tell me more, why would they do that? Wait… wouldn't you be like twenty-something years old?"

"No... I don't think so ... I certainly don't feel twenty. I know I've lived a lot of years now, but not like I've aged. I've grown and changed, certainly. My life was so different; I changed things a lot this time around because I knew what could happen. Somebody told me that I actually am not the same person, that I'm me with the memories of former Harry. I don't even know anymore, it's frustrating. The best way I can think of it is that I'm a twelve year old with my old self merged together to what I am now. But I don't feel like a whole new person, I still feel like I was once Harry Potter, raised by my aunt an uncle after my parents died, Gryffindor."

"GRYFFINDOR? That... explains a lot! You wanted to hang out with them... you would sit at their table in the kitchen... You really are different! How did you end up in Slytherin? Are you even a true Slytherin?" The last part made her frown sadly.

"I repeat, I've grown and changed, I'm not a regular Slytherin but I'm Slytherin in the spirit of the Shadows. I don't see that as a bad thing." This made her smile. "After a whole new life I was different, and the Sorting Hat recognized that."

"And you've kept this secret all of these years? You never told _anybody!"_ She sounded awed.

"Nobody. Not even my mother who has the right to know, because it all involves her. I don't even know why really, felt too big of a secret I guess. I just couldn't get the courage together, it's just such an extreme story. How do you tell your mother she died when you were one and 'I'm really not your little boy because I was a fifth year but I still am twelve, really I am'?" _I was reluctant to tell them that I was one of The Thirteen, and I basically did whatever they wanted without even realizing it. That I had no control._

"I don't know." Tracy's voice was distant, she was staring up into the middle of the round ceiling where the grain of wood spiraled in a vortex.

"It feels pretty good to finally tell someone. Today I decided the Thirteen can all go to hell and I'll tell everyone in the world about them if I want to. Which I don't but that's beside the point." He watched her. "I need a favor."

That caught her attention. "What favor?" She said warily.

"I'm going to be gone for a while. I don't know how long, could be a day... a couple hours... a week. I was trying to think of a way you could cover for me while I was gone. I didn't just tell you for that reason though! I didn't want you to worry when I disappear." Harry insisted.

"Alright I believe you." She gave him a quick smile. "What exactly made you think I wouldn't like you anymore?"

"Because I'm not myself. I'm a lie."

"Harry, that's depressing. You are not a lie. You're Harry Potter, the same person as yesterday. No matter where you come from."

He wrinkled his nose. "This is getting increasingly more mushy."

Tracy laughed. "Where are you going?" She asked loudly, as the question occurred to her.

"Remember Christmas? How my mother was never there? She was there before you showed up, but she left, and not by free will. She disappeared into thin air one day," He said, remembering. "We were a bit upset."

"That's terrible! Where did she go, did you find out?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I did. She time traveled, just like I did. Except not the same, with me it was my mind or my memories that traveled into my younger self. But my mother was simply gone, completely, to another part of time. One of the Thirteen told me that time moves people around sometimes. Have you heard of Camellia Chant?"

"Yeah. Who hasn't?"

"Well she's one of the Thirteen. She's the one who explained most of it to me. She contacts me sometimes." He left out the part about their relation.

"Camellia Chant... I should have guessed that one. Are they all seers?" Tracy wondered.

"Yes, at least I think so." Harry answered and then quickly continued. "They lied though. It was no accident; they took her away and put her somewhere. I don't know why but I'm going to find her."

"Whoa! _They_ did it? Maybe your mom did something? Have you thought of anything that might have irked them?" She was now intensely interested in the situation.

_Why? Why... she was a little bit of a Seer, wasn't she? Not one of the Thirteen though. She didn't even know about them, I don't think she'd be involved with them in any way. I AM involved though... it must be something to do with me. _Harry cringed. "Maybe it's got something to do with me?"

"Can I come?"

"Not this time, Tracy." _One secret off my shoulders, so many more to go... _but Tracy was taking it all very well, he was impressed._ Why had I underestimated her? _

"Maybe—" He stopped abruptly. "Thanks for your help." He said in a rush. "Gotta go. I think you can find your way back, am I right?" Without waiting for a reply, he left her standing in his room, looking curiously after him as he raced into the stairway.

With a sigh, she went to leave too. "Bye Angel. Good luck with the hoarding."

* * *

Halfway down the stairway Harry stopped, listening closely. He knew she couldn't possibly have kept up. Raphael, who'd appeared behind her back a moment earlier and caught his attention, did again next to him now. 

"How's this—" Harry's voice dissolved as he did himself. —_going to work?_

"Come down here." Raphael said and Harry did so. Once Harry was next to him, he tried to reach around him, but simply passed through. "Um... try to cling on?" Harry tried to wrap himself around Raphael ended up halfway inside him, around his snake body like an... ethereal doughnut. _Ethereal doughnut?_

"I'm cold-blooded!" Raphael exclaimed, shivering.

_I'd hurry up then._

"Fine!" Raphael disappeared, and Harry found himself sucked behind him, feeling like he was traveling through a small hose. _That's... unpleasant._

The pressure disappeared and Harry was able to open his eyes again, seeing woods around them. He unfolded himself and then condensed back into human form, landing on his butt.

Raphael was laughing. "Hey look, it worked!"

Harry was now covered with mud. "Haha... shut up. Look at me, nice impression I'll make."

"Look, how convenient! An ice cold mountain stream!" Raphael exclaimed, looking over Harry's shoulder.

"I hate you." Harry said bitterly, plunging himself into the water. He emerged shivering and drenched, but clean. "Lead the way."

A minute later Harry was still trying to peel his clothes away from his skin as they walked out of the edge of the woods, but the air wasn't warm enough to dry him off at all, the sky was overcast. He blinked in surprise. They'd passed between over a barrier between peacefully (though dirty) woods, and complete bustling chaos. It was an enormous causeway. People wandered around in between two long rows of shops and tents for as far as he could see, and there were even little alleyways and areas branching off. Farther down the line he could even see buildings.

"Hey, I've been here before!" He said suddenly.

"Yeah?" Rapheal appeared coiled loosely around Harry's neck.

"Yeah!" Harry strode forward into the crowd.

"I don't suppose you could get us headed toward the center, then?"

"Nope." Harry looked around. "It's a big marketplace, and I was kind of for sale."

"Yes of course." Raphael muttered. "Well she's around here somewhere. We'll have to wander a bit then."

"That's encouraging." Harry said absentmindedly, eying a furry creature resembling a giant caterpillar which was clinging to the side of a lamppost, eyeing him back. "What _is_ that thing?"


	36. Old Fortune Teller

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six: Old Fortune Teller

* * *

Harry's POV 

The fuzzy caterpillar managed a spectacular leap onto a nearby tent-top, and followed them for quite some time, and Harry was rather freaked out by this so they dodged around a bit until they lost it in the crowd. Raphael was silent and Harry took this to mean he had no idea where they were going, so he took over and strode about purposefully. He had a slight fear of attracting attention since he really didn't know what he would say if questioned, but there were so many people he realized he was invisible. Last time he was here he'd been surrounded my dwarves only and therefore not sure if it was their market but there were such varieties of races among the salespeople and customers that he must have only been exposed to a small corner of the market before, he only saw one dwarf in the bunch. _How in the world are we going to find my Mom in this mess?_ He wondered.

Unconsciously he must have been retracing his steps somehow because that first dwarf was only the beginning, soon they were quite surrounded. Harry was more uncomfortable, acutely aware of his features. He lost his invisibility among these people, and received more and more stares.

"Maybe we should turn around?" Raphael suggested.

"No, something tells me to go this way." Harry peered around. He felt like he could almost sense her. Instead of turning around he walked faster and thankfully the crowds started thinning and dwarven people were replaced by humans.

"And now we might be coming out the other side, that doesn't help us either." Raphael sounded slightly defeated.

"Not even, we did two loops around the striped tent and then headed back the way we came and went right. All we did was cut off the corner of the market, we didn't even go into the thick of it."

"Well at least you've got a good sense of direction, I'd never- wait."

"Wait what." Harry asked absentmindedly as he wandered through the emptying road.

"That's it."

"Where?!" Harry snapped to attention.

"There!"

Harry looked to see an elaborate but slightly tattered tent, from it hung a large wooden sign on which words were scratched in another language. The wind lifted the edges slightly and they rustled slightly, but overall there was a sense overwhelming silence, something that was more than sound alone. It was simply still. Harry was a bit apprehensive as he wandered up. This was what his heart had been yearning for, and here it was, and his feet wouldn't move for him. "You're sure."

"Yeah." Rapheal sounded uneasy as well.

"Hello?" Harry called loudly. He almost expected nobody to answer, but a few seconds later the tent flap swung open and a girl stood on the other side, looking back at him. Beyond them was another curtain, tied open to reveal another curtain behind it. It was a huge tent. The girl was fairly average looking, with short hair that lay neatly down around her ears and a long rippling blue shirt and vest with many pockets. She had an air of authority.

"Yes?" she asked quickly, eyes following Raphael's head, who had uncurled himself and "sat up" to look back. She was a few years older than Harry, and though she wasn't particularly attractive, her eyes were stunning. They were light brown with dark rims, and were somehow piercing despite their warmth. As Harry observed her, she became irritated. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for someone." He said, hesitating.

"Who? Looking for who?" She demanded.

"Uh… Lily?" He said finally, hopeful.

"The Madame?" She sounded very surprised. "How do you know Liliana's real name?"

"She's here? I'd like to see her." Harry said eagerly. _Merlin! She IS here!_

"I'm sorry that's not possible we are closed for today, and besides you haven't got an appointment. It's my job to keep people out, you know."

"I'm sure." Harry bit his lip, looking at her. Her tone was still somewhere in between curiosity and hostility. _ What do I say? _"Who are you?"

"Who am I?!" It was obvious that Harry had no right to ask her this. "I am Mariana, the Madame's apprentice. You don't enter unless I say so."

"Well, tell her her son is here, will you?" Harry countered, taking a step back and kneeling comfortably. It was just as obvious that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Madame doesn't have a son!" Mariana said loudly, glaring. "What's your name."

"Harry."

The tent flap closed, and Harry stood again and inched forward, listening carefully. He could hear voices within, muffled behind layers of cloth.

"Madame, there some guy out there who says he's your son."

Harry's stomach turned over when the next voice came. "Harry?" It was Lily's voice. That's all that was said.

The tent flap opened again and Mariana appeared. "How do I know you're not somebody who found out she has a son and you're trying to trick her?"

"Why would I do that?" Harry asked, confused.

"I don't know, you tell me! She is the greatest seer of our time! Although the most underrated." Mariana added thoughtfully. "We belong in a palace, not in this tent."

"Alright, alright, calm down." Harry said. "How about this. Does she…" he reached into his shirt and pulled out his green amulet, which put forth a low glow. "Does she have one of these?"

Mariana looked entranced. "Wow." She stepped back, allowing him room. Harry grinned at her and stepped inside the tent. "Now, where's my mum?"

Mariana entered the middle of the tent, holding it open for him. After a moment she realized she was doing this and let go, and the heavy curtain smacked Harry in the face. He brushed it aside, and she looked a bit bashful.

Inside the tent was a large round table with a tiled top, and several chairs. On the other side of the table was a large comfortable looking chair, and in it, sat and old, wrinkled woman. Harry stopped, shocked.

"Harry!" She said softly, sounding pleased. "Why, you haven't aged a day. Naturally, not…"

"Mum?"

"Yes, Harry." She smiled, and though her hair was pure glistening white and her skin was wrinkled, he would know her kind voice and her unique green eyes, anywhere.

"Mum!" He slipped around the table, and was enveloped into a deep hug. Lily pulled him right onto his chair with her, which was more of a small couch than a chair. She seemed content just to have him next to her there, and they didn't say anything.

It was Mariana that interrupted their moment. "You never told me you had a son!"

Lily laughed softly. "Excuse my apprentice Mariana, she likes to know everything. How I ended up with an apprentice one day I don't know, her father just informed me."

"What is she apprenticed for?" Harry asked curiously, looking around the room.

"I work as a fortune-teller." Lily said.

"Of course!" He nodded. "Nice place. Do you have a crystal ball, too?"

"Nah, I've got one better. I call it, The Rock!" She motioned to a disgruntled Mariana, who uncovered a large milky colored, irregular stone.

"Hey!" Harry said, surprised. "I have one of those in my tower at home."

"An Irenuale?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I got it at that guy's weird shop. Exoticities, or whatever, when I got my knife set." Harry touched it's surface slightly. "What's it for?"

"It's what the elves use to focus seeing ability." Lily smiled. "You should try sometime, it would probably work for you. Mariana can't use it."

"Why not?" Mariana demanded. "I have seeing ability." It was clear this was a sore spot for Mariana. She had her arms crossed and her lips pressed together, and she was pointedly avoiding looking at Harry.

"Because Harry and I have elf blood, and you don't." Lily said gently, pulling Mariana closer and hugging what she could reach of Mariana from a sitting position, her midriff.

"Really?" Mariana asked, eyes wide. She looked at Harry, and glanced away quickly.

_Did I say something to offend her? _Harry wondered.

"Oh Mum," he said, hugging her again, "These months have been horrible without you. Dad's become an alcoholic, we both miss you so much."

"Months?" Lily laughed. "How about these last few decades without my loved ones? THOSE were hard."

Harry could only wince.

"... and James." Lily said softly. "I don't want James to see me like this."

"You... don't want him to know that you're okay?" Harry asked, astonished.

"Of course I do." She said, frowning. "I've changed so much, Harry, I want to see his face so much, I just don't want him to see mine."

"He'll want to see you." Harry pointed out. "He's just going to say to forget it, he doesn't care and wants to see you, you know that."

Lily head dropped until she was looking at her lap. "Yes," she said quietly.

_It's not my same mum. Well, it's my MUM, but it's not the same one. I don't even know what she's been through all this time, the agony of being without us for so long is only part of it. Where has she been, what has she seen?_

"Mum I want to kill the people who did this." Harry said in a low voice.

Lily laughed. "Darling, no one DID this to me. These things happen, I suppose. There isn't anyone who PLOTS these sorts of things." She found the notion amusing. _She clearly thinks I can't possibly know anything about all this._

Harry didn't know what to say, so he said nothing at all. _She's going to be in for a big awakening._

"What now?" He asked finally. "Where do we go from here?"

Lily took his hand. "I'm glad you found me," she said. "I have tried to reach you before, but it never worked out. I have to admit I didn't try very hard. I wanted to see you, always I did. But I knew you still had me, the younger me." She looked perplexed. Harry sympathized greatly. "I couldn't have changed what was going to happen, so why steal your happy moments from you?" She smiled at Mariana, then back at Harry.

"You know where to find me," she continued. "Let's keep in touch and work something out, alright? It's been so long... I'm just not ready." Lily touched one of his curls, her face happy. "I will be soon, but I'm not yet."

He nodded. "I love you Mum."

"I love you Harry."

* * *

Tracy's POV 

Tracy was sitting next to the gold pile, rubbing Angel's belly and teasing her, playing fetch with a little golden trophy. _How she got this out of the Trophy Room is beyond me, you think someone would notice, right?_

Harry came through the door of his Needle Tower room, face downcast. Tracy was surprised. He saw her and mixed feelings crossed his face, first his eyes lit up, but then he frowned. "You're still here?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head. "I went down and had dinner, did some reading, and by that point I started convincing myself that it had all been a bizarre daydream, so I came back to convince myself it was all real. And because I want killer legs for summer."

"There's nothing wrong with your legs." He said.

"It was a joke, Harry, the stairs?" His face was unmoved. "Remember, earlier?" _I give up. _"Where did you go that ate your sense of humor?"

Harry shrugged and sat down next to her. "Not now."

Tracy nodded. _That's okay with me._

Tracy looked at his face, concerned. _Thank you for opening up to me Harry. It means a lot. _She didn't say it aloud.

"I'm sure glad to see you," Tracy said with relief. "I'm glad you took the 'couple of hours' option trip instead of the 'couple of weeks' one. I would have tried my best, but man was I stumped."

"Could have told them I was the the past seeing my mother's future." Harry said dully.

"Ha." She giggled, then looked at him. "Wait, was that serious? No, right?" He didn't answer. "Well I could tell them you insisted on Hippogriff lunch meat and had to travel to Singapore for a legal sandwich."

Harry cracked a smile, looking at her through squinted eyes. "That's a bad idea. Hagrid would turn ME into lunchmeat."

"That's true." Feeling reassured about her friend's mental state Tracy gave him a one armed hug and stood to leave. "Will you be alright?"

"Yeah," Harry said. Angel leaned against him comfortingly, and tried forcing the golden trophy into his hand for a game of fetch.


	37. Initiation

* * *

Chapter Thirty Seven: Initiation

* * *

In the Ravenclaw Dorms 

Alec Morgan slammed his hand on the handrail. "Harry Potter! It was Harry Potter! I'm sure of it now."

"Alec you're not making any sense." His older brother said, looking through the common room for a glimpse of his girlfriend.

"And you're not listening to me!"

"Listen to me." His brother grabbed his shoulder. "You don't know what you saw. You admit you saw some kind of blur… possibly a guy in black. Now you say it was _Harry Potter?_ The quiet Slytherin guy? I think you're taking these rumors about him too far."

"What rumors?" Alec asked, bewildered.

"You know what I'm talking about. Extravagant crap and drama…"

Alec gritted his teeth. "I have eyes. It was _Harry Potter_. He had some kind of bird tucked under his arm, and he was climbing the wall. Why is that so hard to believe? We're at freaking Hogwarts, the school of _magic_."

"What kind of bird?"

"A… Chicken."

Their friend Maxine who had been sitting on the stairs behind him stared. "Alec," she said bluntly. "You're a fruitcake."

"I advise you never to repeat that to anyone, ever again." His brother added.

He sighed. "Fine." Alec walked away, defeated. _I bet the pumpkin juice was spiked. I'm just forgetting this whole damn thing._

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry lifted the edge of the Constellations book in front of him on the table and let the pages flutter down and the book shut. He was still feeling remarkably down. _As soon as I work out what to do about my Mum I'm going to be out of here like a rocket. _Harry sighed.

"What are you doing?" he wondered.

Hermione ceased flipping through her books, and the dust finally settled in the area around her. She had dug out countless volumes from the back of the library, and now they sat at an empty table and she was scanning through them like a madwoman.

"I think I'm on to something." she said. "This Chamber of Secrets thing."

Harry sat up, rather abruptly. "Really?" he asked, interested. "What are you onto?"

She didn't answer, but started searching through the books, reading the bindings. "Everybody thinks it's you, you know."

"Why am I not surprised." he asked said wryly.

"What kind of animal do you think it is?" she asked abruptly. "I mean, a legendary 'beast'. It's got to be in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', or at least one of these older versions…" She frowned. "It's the latest gossip, I wonder why I'm the only one who's thought of this," She eyed him. "I see you haven't."

Harry widened his eyes and shrugged. "Well," he said vaguely. _That's because I already know what it is._

"Let's see, what kind of beast does this have to be? Maybe I'll just flip through the mammal section and see what I come up with."

_Nobody has the right to be suspicious as long as I don't supply the answers. _"Well it has to be able to travel discreetly around the castle, it petrifies people _without_ hurting them." he prompted.

Harry could see the cogs working behind her eyes.

"Why didn't you ever tell us you were a Parseltongue, Harry?" she asked suddenly.

_You were so close, Hermione._

"Never really thought to." he said wearily. "People don't really like the idea, as you already know."

A stack of books buckled, coming down with a crash onto his head. The librarian glared over at them, but as he was diligently picking them up she turned away to chase other mischief makers.

"I thought perhaps you may be weary of books now." _Since an illegal 'barely legal' spellbook dumped a vat of snakes on your head, and all._

She sent him a sharp book. "Most books are harmless."

_Tell that to Ginny- other Ginny,_ he thought, recalling the dangerous book that was in their midst right then. "Yeah."

She raised an eyebrow, perplexed by the peculiar look on his face. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked hopefully.

"Just… worrying, about things." He cast his eyes down.

"Harry…" Hermione said softly, referring to her incident in the hallway, "That wasn't your fault. You didn't know about the book."

"What did you _do?_" he wondered.

"There was some kind of password to the book, and I tried using a spell to get past it…" She looked embarrassed. "Boom, portal to another dimension."

"A slimy dimension. Maybe the Chamber beast comes from there?" he hinted.

"Maybe." She laughed. "I could see through the tear… to whatever that was on the other side. Many scrawny trees. It looked like a swamp. There was lots of slime, and there was a tent between the trees, but I didn't see anybody. There was a huge hole, filled with millions of snakes and spiders. Not that creative, if you ask me. Extreme is all Dam Jastaniel ever was." She frowned. "I don't know why I wanted to read it in the first place. Rave reviews aren't everything."

"Hmm."

"I guess I learned my lesson," she admitted. "Some things just shouldn't be messed with."

Later...

Harry leaned on his elbows, in thought. He had let Hermione be- she'd figure it out. After all, she'd done it the first time, right? _Hopefully I've sped up the process somewhat._

_You know, _he decided. _Some things weren't that bad in the old universe. They were pretty good, actually. I mean, besides my parents and Dumbledore dying. But I won against the basilisk. I just have to do it again. And I don't even have Lockhart here. I wonder what happened to him? If only I could chose the best from both worlds. _He sighed. _If only it ever worked that way. _

"Where are the bodyguards?" Harry asked.

Draco, surprised Harry had known he was approaching without ever turning around, almost stumbled in surprise. "_Well,_ Goyle's mother sent him _snacks_ as an early birthday present. They're both occupied." He sneered a bit, and casually took a seat at the table, disregarding Hermione's presence. Jarren Hawes, Slytherin Shadow extraordinaire, was at his side, and took a seat on the table instead, caving himself a space out of the mountain of literary material.

"Haven't talked in a while." Draco commented. "Considering we live in the same room. What have you been up to lately?" he asked curiously.

"Slaughtering helpless muggleborn," Harry said sarcastically. "You?"

"Videotaping it."

"You guys are disgusting." Hermione commented over her stack of books.

Draco pretended to see her for the first time. "Whoa, Harry! I think there might be somebody _buried _in there. Get your wand, quick!"

Jarren just rolled his eyes.

"Hello, _Harry._" Somebody said deliberately, and Ron strode into their midst. He took a seat next to Hermione, and then looked at her, whispering intently, "Hermione, what are you doing?"

"The only think anybody _sensible _would do!" she said loudly, exasperated. "This Chamber thing is getting out of hand, and I'm _trying_ to inform myself, for protection, if nothing else!"

"Yeah!" Ron exclaimed. "She's informing herself, people. So you can all clear out now." he said pointedly.

"Not likely, considering we were here before _you._"

Ron looked at Harry. "Harry, where you here before them?" he asked in a hushed voice. Not receiving an answer, he charged on. "Well Harry was here before both of you!" He looked at Harry. "Right?"

Harry just looked at them. He sighed. "Look, I'm out. See you later, Hermione." He walked away.

Draco looked about himself, disgruntled, before taking off.

* * *

Slytherin Common room: 

Harry found Tracy in the dungeons, staring at a wall.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She started. "Oh, thinking." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Just feeling lonely is all."

"Those days are over!" he exclaimed, taking a seat next to her in the deep sofa. He slumped over.

"What's bothering _you?_"

"Too much." he complained. "This whole rumor deal is still going on… also Ron and Draco."

"Going at it… again?" She sighed, and slumped down as well. "The truth is… I miss my parents, a lot."

"They never around?"

"Correct, hence my company during the holidays." She sighed wearily, resting her head on his shoulder. "Sometimes I wish-"

"Excuse me for interrupting your _snuggle-fest_." Jarren popped out of nowhere, appearing in front of them.

Tracy's eyes glittered, and she raised a fist. "We were _not _snuggling." she insisted.

"Whatever."

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" Someone said near the door.

The sixth year shoved him through the portal. "Obliviate!"

All the doors in the room shut, and people leaned against them. Looking around, he saw that the room was filled only with Shadows.

"What's going on?" he asked. Tracy looked alarmed. _I guess she didn't know about this._

Alexander Lestrange stepped in front of him. "We've discussed you in great depth, and we've come to a final conclusion."

"That's what you were up to." Tracy said crossly.

"That was necessary, dear." He told her. "You were spotted with him too often for you to have an impartial decision."

"Understandable."

"It took longer than any others… and we concluded that there were no possible Shadows among the first years." His eyes hardened. "And that it's time for your initiation."

"I've been accepted into the fold, then?"

"Today is the first Hogsmeade visit of the new year. As a second year, you're not allowed to come… and we _never _follow the rules. We'll be sneaking all of you second years out through a secret passage we made years ago. We were able to bend the wards from the inside to build the tunnel, however we must leave a gatekeeper to let us back through. That will be you, Tracy."

"Me?" She sputtered.

He lifted an eyebrow.

"I get it."

* * *

Later... 

Harry stepped out of the tunnel, looking back and marveling on its ingenuity. Once you passed through, the tunnel's glassy façade looked like a cracked mirror in an old shop.

_There are some brilliant minds among the Shadows, that's for sure. _

He left the shop led by Jarren. They pulled the hoods of their cloaks so their faces were hidden, and they walked around the building onto the main road in Hogsmead, down to where a large group of Shadows stood waiting. Alexander Lestrange wasn't with them, but a tall sixth year with straight brown hair stepped forward in his place.

"Lestrange went ahead. We we're going for supplies." She clarified, and gestured with her hand. They passed Honeydukes and were soon in the middle of Hogsmeade. Harry was surprised to find a narrow alley he had never seen before, which led onto yet another street. It was a bit dark, and old, weather-beaten awnings loomed over every door. There were few people there, and Harry was stopped short with a hand on his shoulder.

"You stay here." The brown-haired girl ordered, and they disappeared into an unmarked building.

Harry stood with two other Shadows he didn't recognize. There was an uncomfortable silence.

The door slammed open a moment later, and they returned. The girl had a number of small packages, which she swiftly concealed on her person. Then they were on the move again, without words, Harry following behind.

Soon they were out beyond Hogsmead, in a wooded patch. Stepping in to a clearing, Harry saw Alexander, the leader, waiting alone. Harry walked up to him, and the others moved to act as lookouts.

"This is a two-part initiation." Alexander informed him. "First we send you on a mission, then we go back to the lair and do the formal mumbo jumbo. The formal stuff is the real initiation, but it's boring. So the mission is just for fun." He grinned. "Our fun, that is, not yours."

"So..." Harry asked. "This is the first GOTH FRATERNITY, then." _And goth sorority. Merlin, that is hilarious!_

Alexander looked at him, without expression. He didn't get it.

"Nevermind." Harry mumbled.

Appeased, Alexander grinned slyly and walked over to the edge of the grove, dramatically pulling back a curtain of leafy branches, then checked Harry for his reaction.

"Oh boy. Not the Shrieking Shack." Harry did his best to look scared. "Don't make me go in there." _I'm not pulling it off very well, I think._

"Well, yes." Alexander was mildly disappointed. "Go in there and stay until we tell you you can come out."

"Sure." Harry strolled through the front gates, and up to the shack. He gave a little wave and went through the door.

One of the Shadows walked up next to Alexander, watching the door close.

"He ruined it, didn't he?" She said.


	38. Initiation Part 2

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Initiation Part Two

* * *

Harry's POV 

Harry was having difficulty with his mission. Not because of fear, but because he was damn bored. First he prowled the house, finding everything just as dusty and untouched as usual. He wrote "Roonil Wazlib was here" in the dust on an old mirror, just because it amused him, and several stick figures running around on the dirty windows. _I wonder if people can see them from the outside? How confusing is that? _

Eventually he found himself upstairs, in the room where he'd met Sirius. He rubbed a little clean spot on the grimy window and used it as a peephole. Alexander was nowhere to be seen. _They probably took off. I wonder if they're coming back. _He laughed at himself. _Come on Harry, it's been twenty minutes, relax._

He lay down on the four poster bed, which sent up a cloud of dust so thick that he coughed for a minute. Determinedly he lay down again, trying to close his eyes and take a nap. It just wasn't working for him. Now completely covered in a layer of grime and dust he got to his feet and marched down the stairs with a sly grin. _He said go in until they tell me to come out, right? Hmm._

Finding the room where the hidden passage had brought him last time he was at the Shrieking Shack, he located the passage itself and squeezed in, loping along. The passage was shorter than he remembered, and Harry was feeling quite a bit less bored as he popped up among the roots of the Whomping Willow. The tree rustled, noticing him, and Harry quickly reached out, pressing all of the knots in the bark around him until one of them worked. He walked confidently out of the passageway entrance and up to the school. A few fourth years sitting together near the school entrance looked at him oddly. _I suppose I look more than a little dusty._

Harry first went to the kitchens, snagging two muffins fresh from the oven. _Mmm. Blueberry._

Then he trekked down to the lower school, past the Slytherin Dormitories. The Shadows of Hogwarts had chosen to place their hidden passageway inside another hidden passageway, to hide the person who was watching the entrance. It took him a minute to find the right tapestry, when he did he lifted and squeezed through a long narrow slit in the wall. He had to turn sideways to do it. He then had to do the walk back towards Hogsmeade that he had already made twice, all over again.

"Not exactly intended for all body shapes, is it?" He remarked to the darkness in general, referring to the skinny rectangular entrance he'd gone through a minute earlier.

"Harry?" asked the darkness. "Lumos." Tracy looked at him, then to the big glassy door she was guarding to her left, then back to Harry. "Merlin, Harry, how did you do that?" she asked, angry, and looked him over. "And you're FILTHY."

"Yeah, well... muffin?" he offered.

She glared at him. "Yes, please." She took it, and he took a seat next to her as they enjoyed the muffins."How did you do that?" she demanded. "What about your initiation?"

"They wanted me to sit in the Shrieking Shack," Harry said, and Tracy looked alarmed. "It's not terribly haunted, just terribly dirty. I also know a certain secret passageway from inside that goes back to Hogwarts, so I took it. Do you think I failed initiation?"

"I think you get extra credit." She sighed, and laughed. "Are you going to go back to the Shack?"

Harry grimaced. "I think I originally intended to, but it's a long walk, and harder to get through from this side, I don't feel like becoming a human soccer ball today." Then he grinned at her, knowing he was being unhelpfully vague.

"You don't intend on sharing all of your secrets, do you?" Tracy asked.

"No, what would the fun in that be? No mystery!" They laughed, and he leaned close and said in a low voice, "I know the passageway from last time around, you know what I mean."

She nodded. "You must know a lot." Her body all of a sudden tensed. "Harry... was... was the Chamber of Secrets opened last time?"

Harry was quiet, not expecting the question. "Yes." he said finally.

"So you DID know more about it!" She said triumphantly. "Why haven't you said anything?"

"How do I explain how I know without incriminating myself?" Harry asked.

"There has to be SOME way!"

"Not that I can think of. And I've done my best to stop attacks from happening, but I've failed so far."

"Well? What's the monster?" She leaned forward in anticipation, eyes alight with excitement. "I've been dying to know!"

He whispered in her ear, very quietly, _"A basilisk."_ He realized that he enjoyed being that close to her, and flushed slightly, but luckily the light was too dim for it to show.

"Merlin!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth in a gesture of surprise.

There was a knock on the glass door, and they both jumped. Lucking at Harry guiltily, Tracy rapped her knuckles slightly back, almost imperceptibly.

_knock knock knock knock knock_

Five distinctly seperate knocks returned to them and Tracy pushed opened the door, pulling the glass mirror open, giving Harry a quick glance of the shop. He leaned back into the shadows behind the door.

"Where's Harry?" He could hear Tracy say.

"He's not coming out of the Shrieking Shack!" Alexander swore, stomping into the passageway. "We even walked up to the door and knocked on it, and he didn't respond. We never saw him come out."

Harry got to his feet and stepped out behind Alexander, whose whole stance screamed of frustration. The other Shadows with him gaped, and the Sixth Year girl pointed, Alexander turned around, and his eyes blazed.

"Is it extra credit if I escape your mission without you seeing me?" Harry asked, slightly nervously. _Maybe I should have gone back to the shack, just to keep things simple._

Alexander turned his glare on Tracy who shrugged her shoulders and stepped back. "I didn't let him through! He came up BEHIND me in the passageway!" Everyone looked back at Harry, who smiled sheepishly.

Alexander looked at Harry, evaluating him. Suddenly he laughed, and the rest of the Shadows, seeing his reaction, laughed too, although a little hesitantly. "Yes I suppose it is." He slapped Harry on the back, still chuckling. "Well done." This sent up another cloud of dust and everyone coughed.

Alexander pushed him ahead, and they all walked back through the tapestry, squeezing through the rectangular entrance. Harry assumed they were heading to the 'lair' so he headed that way, and they entered the Shadows' Room and took their seats in the circle on the couches. Alexander walked to the back wall, touching his wand to it. A glowing script starting writing itself over the wall, and Harry watched interestedly.

_The Shadows of Howarts_

_I vow to hold my silence, of the existence of this secret society, and keep any secrets entrusted to me as long as I live, even after leaving Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I vow never to directly harm another Shadow. I will keep the values of the Shadows alive: we will only move to help and not harm. We will inform and educate ourselves. We will become the best wizards and witches we can be. We are the new generation of Slytherin._

It seemed to be done. Harry nodded in approval, and the area below was covered in signatures.

"Just use the tip of your wand." Alexander told him, and Harry walked up and searched the wall. Tracy's name was in a corner, and he wrote his signature next to hers, it appeared in glowing letters from his wand. _Harry James Potter._ He stepped back, and the writing all faded out of sight, glimmering.

The Shadows all applauded. Alexander shook his hand, saying "We'll let you know when you first real meeting is, we're planning one soon. And you have to come, alright."

Glancing at Tracy, Harry nodded. She looked happy. Then Harry went to take a shower, earning a few odd looks on the way.

* * *

The next day, after classes... 

A small package had arrived for Harry that morning, carried by two owls. He felt it's weight with satisfaction, and put it in his bookbag for the rest of the day.

"What's that?" Tracy asked, as they sat down in the library to do homework. Harry knew Ron and Hermione were going to join them in a few minutes, so he looked around hesitatantly before pulling it out. Unwrapping it quickly, he offered it to her.

"I asked my dad to owl it to me, I used to have it in my tower at home but I wanted to take a look at it."

"What is it?"

"It's an elven stone, supposed to enhance seeing ability." He had never quite filled her in on everything with Camellia being his great, great aunt and his mom as the fortune teller, but she didn't seem to think anything was out of the ordinary.

"Well, try it."

Harry put it in his back so no one could see it, and put his hands on it. Nothing happened.

"I don't know how to use it," he admitted. "It's just a weird rock."

"It like it, it's pretty."

"I could put it on a necklace for you and you can wear it, then." Harry offered jokingly.

"Will you pay the bills for St. Mungo's when I snap my neck?" Tracy returned.

Hermione and Ron walked up then, and took their seats.

"Hey Harry." They both said, and he smiled. "Hi."

Of the four seats around the table Harry was sitting next to Tracy, and Ron to the seat on his other side, so Hermione ended up next to Tracy. Tracy scooted her chair over and the two girls sat chatting and whispering occasionally. Ron watched them suspiciously.

"You can't still not like Tracy, Ron." Harry told him.

Ron shrugged. "No, she's okay. I was just remember what we used to talk about, the Slytherin Conspiracy." Harry glanced at Tracy, who hadn't heard anything.

"What about it?" he asked.

Ron shrugged again, looking down at his homework.

Harry sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes. _What a day._

_There's a full moon, tonight._ Harry realized. _I wonder how those werewolves are doing, living out there in the Forbidden Forest. I haven't even remembered to check on them. _Harry felt guilty. He sat and went through his homework with the others, not talking much because he was trying to finish up as fast as possible. He sped through it, Tracy and Ron were still working and Hermione was lost in extra credit work.

"I'm done." He told them. "I'm going to go for a walk, catch up with you guys later?"

They murmured agreement and he packed everything in his bookbag, feeling the hard stone inside dig into his hip he pushed it aside until he was comfortable and took off walking through the halls, heading out of Hogwarts.

The spring weather was shaping up, and there was a fresh breeze on his face. It felt wonderful. _My life is so crazy. This is all so stressful, My mother, Chamber of Secrets, werewolves... at least the schoolwork is still so easy. _He went straight for Hagrid's hut, to ask where he could find Cade and Niobe, and anyone else who had joined their posse.

Harry knocked on Hagrids door. "Comin'!" Hagrid said from the inside. "Harry!" He exclaimed as he opened the door. "Come on in!"

Harry smiled, stepping in and looking around the hut. _Same old Hagrid._

Something caught Harry's eye. On a worktable in the corner was a small pile of glinting metal. He did a double take. _Those are my little elven knives. Five of them- that's exactly how many I'm missing. It slipped my mind entirely, since none disappeared lately._

"Hagrid," Harry said shakily. "What are those." _How did they get in Hagrid's hut?!_

"Oh, those." Hagrid had his back turned, making tea, and barely spared a glace at the worktable. "I found 'em stuck in all them dead roosters a while back."

Harry opened his mouth in shock, and didn't say anything._ In the dead roosters? _


	39. A New Set of Tricks

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Nine: A New Set of Tricks

* * *

Hagrid didn't seem to notice how Harry stood as if stupefied. _Did... someone steal my knives? ... Off my body? That's impossible... _Something much, much worse occurred to him. 

Hagrid turned to offer Harry tea and ask him what he came for, but he found Harry gone. Outside, Harry was sprinting toward Hogwarts.

"Whoa, Harry, whoa!" He almost collided into Tracy, who grabbed at his arm in an attempt to slow him. "What's going on?" He shoved her away and continued running, setting a pace she could never hope to follow. Concerned but defeated, she stood, uncertain whether to head in the same direction.

As he ran, Harry was deep in thought. He barely saw Tracy's face as a blur on one side, scenarios and images were running through his mind. _I think that Tom Riddle has a new set of tricks, this time around, he upped the ante. Fuck._

Harry headed straight for his dorm room, scrambling through his things. After a few minutes of frantic searching, it was clear that he was not going to find what he was looking for. Disgusted, he left the area trashed and covered with his things.

He walked in a general direction, wondering what to do next. Then he realized where his feet were taking him, and that he'd already made that decision.

Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was empty as usual, and Harry heard her gurgling somewhere inside. She didn't emerge as he made his way to the sink, and double-checking that no one was watching, hissed the Chamber of Secrets open.

The plummeting feeling in Harry's stomach as he fell deep under the school mimicked his emotions exactly. After he hit the ground, it was dead silent, and so he crept forward slowly. His feet were so silent and stealthy that he didn't move a single rock as he made his way through the dark tunnel. He didn't light his wand, he didn't need to, and hoped his initial thump as he hit the bottom of the slide had been muffled enough not to alert anyone of his presence.

He got to the main chamber. Ahead of him, in the middle of the floor, lay a book. As he moved toward it, he grew angrier when he saw the title: _Study of Supernatural Families and Crossbreeding._

Pulling a quill out of his pocket, Harry flipped open the book to a random page and wrote in large letters crosswise across the words: _BULLSHIT._

The words on the page as well as his handwriting faded from view, and Harry's heart sank even further as they were replaced by: **_Ha ha ha ha ha..._**

Frenzied, Harry started tearing pages from the book, ripping them out in fistfuls. Suddenly his head was hit with blinding pain, it shot all through his body and his hands seized up, unable to function. His legs gave out and he fell hard to the floor. Through one eye, he could see the book morph, become thinner until it resembled the diary Harry remembered.

_All this time... _Harry thought, closing his eyes as if he could temporarily deny it. _During the first attack, I was temporarily blacked out, during the second one, I was asleep in my dorm room... fallen asleep after reading that book. _Harry was horrified. _All those dreams I was having! Dreams of the basilisk, they weren't just dreams. _

"Hello." It wasn't until the voice came that Harry realized that there was a pair of shoes near his head. Struggling up onto his elbows, he looked up at the shade of Tom Riddle.

"Hey Tom," was Harry's weary response.

Tom Riddle looked confused. "Well, Harry Potter, I'd like to thank you for all your help," he said snidely. "Couldn't have let the Monster out to attack people by myself, congratulations."

"Yes, the basilisk, I know," Harry narrowed his eyes at Riddle. "How did you do it? I didn't know it could work this way, with the diary being disguised."

"Who are you to know so much?" Riddle demanded, angry now. "I originally tried to sneak my diary in as a benign book in someone's cauldron by influencing Lucius Malfoy, but the placing of the book was thwarted by an unknown person, and I realized someone was out to sabotage my plan."

_I should have let the book go into Ginny's cauldron, stole it from there myself, and destroyed it._

"So I decided to take more caution, and had Lucius put a very complicated spell on the diary and give it to his son to plant in the school Library. If you asked Lucius, of course, he would have thought it was his own idea all along. The first part of the spell was to subtly draw people to it's location, to ensure the next person who walks by picks it up, and second, the more complicated part of the spell, was to take on the appearance of a book the reader would most be interested. That was to guarantee that the person that picked up the book will be interested in holding onto it, and then to read it. There is an actual book in the Hogwarts Library called Study of Supernatural Families and Crossbreeding, and you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between it and my version. Only if you'd picked up the other one, none of this would have happened." Riddle smirked.

"It's just not possible..." Harry was still in shock, he could hardly wrap his head around what he was hearing. "How could you have used me without me knowing...?"

"Might I add what a handy puppet you've been? Your knives and your ability to keep well hidden have benefited my plan." Riddle looked at Harry suspiciously. "Tell me Harry, were you the one who interfered with the diary being given to Ginny Weasley?"

Harry nodded. "Didn't expect that, did you?"

Riddle looked completely perplexed. "But how... no one could have known..." Trying to throw off his confusion, he settled for laughing. "It gets better! Now, through the times you read that book until the letters blurred and you were half asleep and no longer remembered what you were doing or reading, you're under my control. I'm feeding off of your life force to grow stronger, so my mysterious enemy is now conveniently unable to retaliate!"

Harry struggled with his hands, trying to free them for his own use, to somehow make them cooperate.

"Lie still, Harry, there's no use fighting it," Riddle told him condescendingly. "I'm going to let the Basilisk out, you're going to look him in the eyes, and then my pet and I will move on to the rest of the mudbloods at Hogwarts. This time we'll kill, not petrify."

Harry was frustrated beyond measure. _It wasn't supposed to go like this! I'm more capable than I was last time, but no more able to fight him, he's evened the playing field. This is all happening too fast; I can barely comprehend what's going on, let alone move against him._

Riddle called to the basilisk, and it emerged from its hiding place, slithering out through the muck and scraping along the stone floor. Riddle ordered it to look at Harry, and Harry squeezed his eyes shut.

"Now, Harry, LOOK THE BASILISK IN THE EYES," said Riddle with authority. Against his will Harry's eyelids twitched. Squeezing them shut even further, Harry resisted.

"I repeat, OPEN YOUR EYES HARRY!"

Harry could feel the strong compulsion to do as Tom Riddle was ordering tug at him, but it lacked the power to bend him to Riddle's will. _There's some hope, at least._

Riddle sighed. "Such a strong mind. We'll have to do this another way. "Switching to parseltongue, he added, _"Bite him, now!"_

Harry rolled, but he felt like he was made of stone. He had no chance. Something struck at him in the darkness behind his eyelids, and Harry felt pain deep in his shoulder as the basilisk fangs penetrated his skin. _No, no, no..._

As the grip of the basilisk's bite on his arm loosened, Harry frantically tried to roll again, this time in the other direction. He rolled over something that dug into his spine. Once over this obstacle, he realized it was Riddle's diary. An idea came to him. Lying as still as possible, he waited and listened. The basilisk hissed as it drew back, Harry knew it was about to strike, even though his eyes were still tightly closed. He wiggled his right arm with difficulty; his shoulder injury was burning like fire.

Now as the basilisk struck with its giant mouth full of fangs, Harry thought it would rip his arm right off. He couldn't help it; he screamed.

At the same time, he could hear Riddle screaming, _"NOOOOOO!"_

Harry could feel that the basilisk was looking at Riddle now, so Harry stole a glimpse. Along with biting Harry's now mangled arm, the basilisk had taken a big chunk out of Riddle's diary, now impaled on a fang. Harry squeezed his eyes shut again as the basilisk let go of his arm in favor of whipping his head back and forth in an attempt to loosen the piece of diary from his teeth. Harry was rather glad the basilisk let go of his arm before doing that.

He risked another peek to watch in triumph as Riddle disintegrated on his way to nonexistence. _Had me pinned, and I still managed to beat you, Tom Riddle!_

Just then the basilisk managed to dislodge the piece of book from his teeth and it blew out over the room in a flurry of pages, and Harry realized he could move properly again. However, his arm was completely useless. He took the opportunity while the basilisk still had his head turned to get to his feet and sprint, agile, along the monster's spine. It reacted immediately, turning to look at him, and Harry jumped to the side quickly. Before he hit the ground his wings unfurled from his back and Harry was moving up in the air, flapping until he was above the basilisk's head. It looked for where he'd fallen, trying to find it's prey. Even though Tom Riddle was gone, it had a clear idea of who to go after.

Harry tried of hover down over his opponent, but he couldn't keep up with the basilisk's movements. With a grunt of effort, Harry dropped down behind its head, wrapping his legs securely around its neck. The basilisk resumed whipping it's head back and forth, but Harry held his legs locked tightly in place. Reaching behind him he pulled out of his pretty silver daggers out of the back of his shirt and leaned forward, trying to reach the creature's deadly eyes. It was difficult with the head moving as it was, but Harry finally got in a lucky swipe that gauged out both of the eyes. Roaring in pain, it whipped him forward and Harry lost his grip. He found himself flying through the air at a fast pace, the wall closing in on him before he could spread his wings fully. He slammed into it with a crunch, sliding down until he landed on his back, staring at the ceiling, dazed.

_Ow._

Along with the pain in his arm, Harry had acutely felt one of his wing-bones snap. Deprived of this advantage, Harry still felt victorious. _I can't fly, but it can't see me._

He felt it moving near his head, and he scooted away, struggling to his feet. _It can still smell and sense me, though._

Harry had lost his dagger somewhere, but he pulled out another one and ran next to the basilisk, stabbing it. The creature seemed like bothered by this than it had when Harry had attacked its eyes, so Harry stabbed it again. It still didn't react beyond acknowledging his position by striking at him. Harry dodged it, and stabbed it again near the same spot. He could feel his legs weakening from the pain and the basilisk venom, and his stabbing seemed sluggish. _I can't keep this up, _he realized. _I don't believe this._

Without meaning to, Harry found himself sitting. Disappointed by this new position and exhausted, he slumped down. Angry, he looked up into the face of the basilisk, which seemed to know exactly where he was.

_"I'm your master!"_ Harry yelled on impulse. _Why not, I've been letting it out all this time, it seems. "Stop!"_

The basilisk hesitated, still moving toward him, but it had listened, for just a moment, before continuing.

With all the power in his lungs, Harry hissed at it. _"DIE!" _He put every ounce of frustration and pain and longing into that one word, and to his surprise, the basilisk slid down into a limp pile and didn't move.

Harry stared. _It worked? _He wobbled over to get a closer look on his knees, to where it's head lay. He jabbed it in the nostril with his knife, but it didn't react. _It's really dead..._

Harry didn't feel very much like he'd won, a cold realization had come over him. _No Fawkes to heal me this time. And I'm injured far worse._

Numbly, he got to his feel and staggered back through the passageway, entirely reliant on using his left hand to find places to lean on for support. He got back to the tunnel up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and sat in the entrance, completely without hope.

_It's impossible; I can't get out of here. _Harry thought miserably, looking at his useless arm. _Though... it did take me down a lot faster last time. This time, after I got bitten I still managed to fight the basilisk and get halfway out. Being in this form with my wings must give me some level of resistance I didn't have before. Maybe I should just try a little harder. _He leaned back and used his legs to push himself into the sloping tunnel, and encouraged, used both walls on either side of him as leverage to move even further. His wing felt crushed in between his back and the wall but he ignored it.

It seemed he was in the tunnel forever, progress was so slow. The relief of finding the exit of the tunnel and relaxing his aching legs was tremendous, and he was filled with new optimism as the Chamber closed behind him and he left the bathroom. _I need to get help._

It occurred to him to change to mist form, and he gritted his teeth in an attempt to do so but couldn't seem to pull his thoughts together. He moved steadily downward through the halls. Fortunately, they were empty. Finally he saw someone ahead, a familiar face.

" Tracy!" Harry called. Behind her he saw more faces: the rest of the Shadows.

"Harry!" She just about screamed, sprinting toward him. Harry remembered his wings behind him and pleaded with them to go away, miraculously they did. At the same moment they were gone, the burning pain of his basilisk wounds doubled and he collapsed. _I guess I'm more human again... there went my protection against the venom._

"What happened to you?" Tracy asked, kneeling at his side.

"He doesn't look good," someone added.

"Understatement," Alexander Lestrange said without humor. "What did this, Harry?" He sounded extremely alarmed. Harry didn't blame him.

"Chamber of Secrets," Harry said distantly. "Basilisk venom."

Tracy sobbed. "Oh no!"

"I hate to say this but... we can't deal with this on our own. Harry, hold on, we're bringing you to the professors." Alexander was barely more than a blur to Harry now, but he felt hands picking him up and jarring footsteps as they walked down the hallway.

All of a sudden he head McGonagall's voice, "Oh my goodness! Is that a STUDENT?!"

"It's Harry. Get all the Professors!" Tracy told her urgently. "We're taking him to the infirmary, he says he's been in the Chamber of Secrets."

_Poor Tracy. _Harry thought vaguely. _She sounds panicked._

He felt himself deposited on a bed, and people were talking nearby.

"The Chamber of Secrets, you said?" Dumbledore was asking. "Did he say anything else, Alexander?"

"No sir. Just that it was basilisk venom."

"Alright, all students out of the infirmary!" Dumbledore ordered, and Harry heard a couple complaints but mostly feet moving out of the room.

"I'm staying." Tracy said resolutely.

_I'm being stupid. _Harry thought. _What's better- dying, or exposure?_

He pleaded with his wings to come back, imagining them, hoping it would work. They did, uncomfortably pressed to the bed under his weight. No one seemed to notice.

Things cleared up a bit then, and the pain receded. He could see the Hogwarts professors standing around him, and Tracy was right next to his head.

"The monster in the Chamber of Secrets was a basilisk," Harry told them. "Don't worry, I've killed it," he added seeing them react in horror. "It bit me a couple times though." He looked down at his arm. "Once in the shoulder, and then my arm's a mess. And my wing's broken."

"Oh dear!" Madam Pomfrey bustled away to her remedies. "Basilisk venom!"

"Wait a moment," Professor McGonagall said. "Your WING?"

* * *

_Author Note:_

_It might be fun to go back over some chapters if you haven't read them in a while, Ghost Beings for instance, and see the part where the attack happens and the foreshadowing you may have missed. : ) Like when Harry went down to confront the Basilisk, it wasn't there because Harry hadn't ordered it to come out._


	40. Memories

* * *

Chapter 40: Memories

* * *

Harry woke up slowly, and expecting pain, took a deep shuddering breath, preparing himself. It didn't come; instead there was a cooling sensation over his wounds, and he relaxed. Opening his eyes, he saw the inside of the closed bed curtains of the infirmary. 

_I'm alive!_ He thought, mildly surprised.

Sitting up, he checked himself. His shoulder and arm were still bandaged, and feeling an uncomfortable stiffness in his wings he looked over his shoulder, surprised to find them there.

_Oh right…_

He could remember telling them his wing was broken, and McGonagall's surprise, and the silence that followed. Madam Pomfrey, had faltered only a few seconds. "Roll over on your left side, then dear," was all she had to say. Then Harry had drifted off, and the last thing he remembered was Tracy's voice murmuring, but he hadn't been able to make out her words.

He pulled open the curtains just a little bit open, peeking through them. The Infirmary was empty, and somewhere down the aisle Madam Pomfrey was putting new sheets on a bed.

"Hello, I'm awake," Harry said softly.

Madam Pomfrey looked for a second as if she wasn't sure she'd heard it, and then turned around and saw his face as he pushed the curtains aside.

"Oh!" She said, flustered, putting the sheets down. "How are you feeling?

"Much better, thank you." He smiled.

She nodded. "Breakfast should be just about over, I'll go tell the professors that you're awake, they wanted to be notified immediately."

She left the room, and Harry sighed, lying back down. _Great. Well. Being alive seems a bit less exciting now._

He closed his eyes for a couple minutes and drowsed, waking back up when he heard the door open. Pushing back the curtain, he saw Dumbledore in the lead, followed by Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, Snape, Jason Wolfsbane, and then the rest of the professors. Harry was surprised to see Madam Pomfrey pull a long skeleton key out of her pocket, and move to lock the Infirmary door. She locked it and started walking away when she heard the door knock.

"Oh yes," she said, and unlocked it. Tracy stepped in, carrying a plate piled with Harry's favorite breakfast goods… in other words, everything. She grinned at Harry, and Harry grinned back.

_At least there's one friendly face in the bunch! Mmm, muffins. _

Madam Pomfrey relocked the door and together they all walked forward, Harry pushed his curtains always the way back and they all took seats on the beds around him. Tracy put the breakfast plate on his bedside table. Harry decided to wait before devouring it, because everyone was looking at him intently.

Professor McGonagall put her face in her hands. "Harry, Harry, Harry..."

"I'm glad to see you're alright," said Professor Sage, "You gave us quite a scare."

Madam Pomfrey was shaking her head. "Basilisk venom. There wasn't anything I could do."

"You didn't heal me?" Harry asked, confused.

"No. I could only clean the bite marks and put general healing salves on them."

"You were dying." Tracy said, her grin gone.

"Somehow after a day or so your wounds started healing by themselves," Madam Pomfrey said. "They're almost completely gone now."

"That brings us to-" Professor McGonagall started.

"The Chamber of Secrets," Dumbledore finished.

"No, I was going to say-"

"The Chamber of Secrets," Dumbledore repeated.

"Fine. Yes." McGonagall crossed her arms. "Pray tell, how did you end up in there?"

They all looked to Harry, who smiled sheepishly. "I figured it out."

"Really?" Professor Sage asked. "How?"

"First I figured out what the monster was," Harry said. "Think about it. It petrifies people it doesn't look at directly, the roosters were all killed by someone, and the spiders have been fleeing the castle for weeks. Basilisk. Easy."

Everyone looked uncomfortable. Harry could see them thinking it through, seeing that it made sense.

"Right." Professor Sage rolled her eyes. "Anyone could have figured it out." She seemed irritated by his manner. Harry decided to tone it down.

"So, the monster?" Dumbledore prompted.

_I don't want to tell them about the book... that would be telling them that I was doing it, just 'it wasn't my fault', and the book is gone. If it were ANYONE else, I could tell about the book. So how could I have figured everything out in a way that makes sense?! Think quick Harry! _

"I thought it might be moving through the pipes so that nobody could see it," Harry explained logically, "So I stayed up at night and hung around all the bathrooms and kept an eye out. A careful one. Finally tonight I caught the basilisk in the act, sneaking into the Chamber of Secrets," he concluded.

Everyone was on the edge of their seats with suspense. "So... where is it?" Snape wanted to know.

"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," Harry told them.

Tracy, who'd been snacking one of Harry's croissants, snorted and dropped a piece on the floor. "Bummer," she murmured, looking down at it.

"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?" McGonagall asked faintly, not as amused. "Oh my."

"Of course," Dumbledore was nodding. "She died there during the last opening of the Chamber of Secrets. She must have gotten in the way."

"So how did you kill the monster?" Snape was demanding. "A big... basilisk... is quite an opponent, they're immune to most spells."

"Yes, that was the difficult part," Harry agreed. Suddenly it occurred to him that in actuality, he hadn't TRIED any spells. _Maybe next time I should go for strategy and not just blindly start stabbing anything that moves._

"No!" McGongall insisted," I want to know why he immediately tell a professor. That would have been the right thing to do."

Harry shrugged. "It was right there, and all."

McGonagall made an odd aggravated noise, it was a combination of a groan and the sound of somebody being strangled. Professor Sage who had been sitting on her left looked at her in alarm.

"What spell, Harry, what spell?" Snape repeated.

"None," he said honestly. "I stabbed it."

He might as well have said, 'I fed it to the Whomping Willow', or 'It had a heart attack', they couldn't have looked at him any more stumped. Harry felt in his pocket, in it's sheath he had the knife his mother gave him for Christmas. Harry fervently hoped that Hagrid had neglected to mention the daggers in the roosters to anyone; he doubted Hagrid would have, considering nobody saw the incident as being related. He would have to go that night and steal them back, but in any case at least his mother's dagger looked considerably different to the other ones. By showing them this one he could at least reasonably claim the others weren't his, although a bit unbelievably.

"I used this," Harry said, showing them. It was covered in blood from the Basilisk still. "First I had to take its eyes out, so it wouldn't kill me right away, but before that point I had to close my eyes, and that's when it got a couple of good bites in. Then we struggled for some time until I finally killed it, and then I got out of the Chamber of Secrets and looked for help."

McGonagall looked a little faint again. Everyone else just looked shocked.

"You stabbed it with a knife," Snape repeated in a dead voice.

"Yes," Harry affirmed, nodding.

"That's the one your mom gave you for Christmas, right?" Tracy asked. "Pretty." Everyone glanced at her, but chose not to comment.

"Harry," McGongall said, regaining her composure, "Now, will you PLEASE explain the WINGS?!"

Professor Sage nodded. "Jason says they're... oversized, slightly odd shaped FAERIE wings."

"You broke the stiff part at the very top of one of your upper wings," Madam Pomfrey elaborated. "It's not a bone, per say, but similar."

Harry decided not to drag out the inevitable, and said simply, "Lily Evans was a Changeling Child. That should explain everything."

"A Changeling?" Jason asked, impressed, "A real Changeling? Faerie child switched with human at birth?"

Harry nodded. "It was a little unconventional, because she's not just of fairy blood, and she's not exactly evil, but that's the basic idea."

"That makes you..." Snape asked.

"A mish-mash," Harry said, as if that conclusively answered everything. They looked at him unblinkingly. _Okay, fine, I guess I have to explain further._

"Being half human because of my father, I'm in a state of flux between by two sides, they're a little too different to coexist. It's a little uncomfortable, but damn useful. I flew up above the basilisk and dropped down onto its head."

"I see." Dumbledore said.

"You do?" McGongall demanded, scandalized.

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Perhaps we should give Harry a little more rest and time to eat breakfast, hmm?"

Grudgingly everyone nodded, and got to their feet.

"Jason Wolfsbane helped me with the wing," Madam Pomfrey told Harry. "He came up with some detailed charts that gave me a better idea of how to put it back together and what healing potions to use, after all I can't give you a normal healing potion and expect it to take care of wings as well as the rest of your person. After I set it I gave you the healing potion and it healed right up. The basilisk poison is making the bites heal slowly. I want you here the rest of the day to get some more sleep, you hear me? Then I'll re-bandage them and you should be fine to go."

Harry nodded. "Thanks Professor Wolfsbane, Madam Pomfrey."

The professors all filed out, and Tracy moved to sit comfortably cross-legged on the bed next to his.

"Give me that," He said, and she shoved his breakfast plate close to him so he could pick it up. "Thanks," he amended. "Sorry to be rude. I'm just starving, and watching you sit there eating made it worse."

"Hehe." She said, as he dug in. Giving him a decidedly evil eye, she said, "Changeling Child, eh?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to tell the Shadows?" She wanted to know.

"No. They didn't see anything. We can tell them about the Chamber of Secrets of course, I'll just leave out the flying part."

"Understandable," Tracy said. "One's heritage is, after all, personal."

"You don't seem particularly surprised," Harry noted.

Tracy laughed, surprising him. "You?" She said, flopping backwards. "You, Harry Potter? Nothing surprises me about you any more. I'd go mental if I tried to understand it all."

* * *

When Madam Pomfrey released him, Harry set out alone for his dorm room. It was getting late, after dinner, and everyone was either in the library or in their respective common rooms. Harry's whole body was tense. He still hadn't gotten over the revelation that he'd been setting the basilisk on muggleborns, and he was mad as hell. 

_GRRR! That tricky bastard! _

He'd been thinking all day in his bed, and found himself to have lost all patience. _I'm done with sitting around waiting for things to resolve themselves, _he thought. _Now that I've beat the Chamber of Secrets... _

His anger at Tom Riddle, not having anything to direct at, was now focused on the Thirteen. He had adrenaline and momentum from his success with the Chamber, and was on a rampage. It had been hard lying in bed all day, but worth it as the basilisk bites and improved greatly.

Harry changed the direction he was going, heading for Needle Tower. _Those bastards from the Thirteen are going to learn not to interfere, _he fumed.

He looked around Needle Tower, trying to clean things up a bit. Taking a deep breath, he sat on the windowsill and closed his eyes.

Harry dissolved away into the air. He knew that he could never find the right place if he physically went looking for it, but the spirit plane was like a map with a shiny sticker stuck on it. With better aim than the last time, Harry found himself standing near his mother's tent. He was about to walk in, but heard voices and sat down next to the tent and waited. Finally a couple left the building, not seeing him, and walked away. _Must be clients._

"Mother?" Harry called into the tent, stepping through the first opening.

"Harry," Lily said from within, sounding surprised. "You've come to visit?"

Mariana was there, she looked slightly sour to see him.

"No," Harry told Lily. "I've come to take you away."

"Oh Harry," Lily started, "I know you mean well, but there's no point-"

"Yes. There is," Harry said firmly. "Do you know how to Apparate?" He asked Mariana.

Mariana flushed.

"She shows some wizarding ability, but it wasn't strong enough to get a Hogwarts letter," Lily said gently. "However her seeing ability is formidable."

Mariana looked at him crossly.

"Oh," He said. "Sorry. Can you take her on side-along apparition."

"Certainly," Lily said, sighing. "Whatever you say Harry. Where are we apparating to?"

"The Shrieking Shack," he told her, and her old face moved into an amused smile.

"Oh yes," Lily mused. "James told me about that one."

"You can come back for your things later, I think. I just want to you be safe while I do what I'm going to do, out of the grasp of the Thirteen."

"The what?" Lily looked at him quizzically.

"The people who did this to you, Mum." Harry explained.

"Oh, Harry, not that again..." she murmured defeatedly.

"Do you trust me?" Harry wanted to know.

"Of course!"

"Then just go along with me for now. I just want you safe in Hogwarts for the time being, okay?"

Lily nodded. She took Mariana's hand, and pulled out her wand. "Apparate!" she said, and they disappeared.

Harry misted away, zipping across the distance and reforming behind Lily.

"This place is disgusting," Mariana was saying. "And that... apparating thing is dreadful!"

"Isn't it?" Harry agreed. "But this isn't where we're going, Mariana."

He showed them the entrance to the secret passageway.

Lily was smiling. "I've always want to go through here," she told him.

When they got to the Whomping Willow and had frozen it, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak.

"Here Mum you wear this," He said, giving it to her. "Mariana you look enough like a student, you just walk next to me."

The walk through the halls of Hogwarts was uneventful, and Harry was relieved to reach Needle Tower. Lily had a lot of difficultly with the stairs; it was some time before they made it to the top. They seated themselves, and Harry sat down, leaning against the wall.

"You two can just hang out here, I'm going to close my eyes for a while." He pulled his amulet out of the front of his shirt.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Lily asked.

"No, that's alright," Harry said. "I don't know how long this is going to take, so get comfortable."

Harry closed his eyes, and almost instantaneously he found himself standing under the tree in his subconscious. Looked around, he found all three of the... beings, or whatever they were, that dwelled there. They were sunning themselves on the side of the grassy hill.

"Hello guys, how's the weather in here?" He called, and they noticed him.

"Just fine, thank you," Arlene said. "And I'm not just saying that to be polite, thank you because it's all your doing."

"And after what went down the last couple days in here..." Raphael said crossly.

"First there was a sudden windstorm," Arlene explained, "Which turned into a violent lightning storm."

"Then the tree started ooze black goo and die!" Raphael added. "Now... sunshine."

"Sorry," Harry said. He'd never considered his inner landscape would change, but he supposed it made sense, it had been a turbulent few days.

"Don't worry about it," Arlene assured him.

"Well I'm glad to see you all here," Harry said. "I need your help. I have a plan."

Raphael writhed in the grass, bringing up his head to look at Harry. "A plan? Would this be about..."

"Yes."

Raphael nodded. "Finally."

"I need to find the Thirteen," Harry stated. "How do I do that?"

Rapheal and Arlene looked at each other. "We don't explore much," Arlene said regretfully. "We usually hang around here. Gabriel is the one who goes out."

Gabriel lifted his massive head as well, and Harry found himself faced with a huge, toothy grin.

"The Thirteen..." Gabriel said, almost to himself. "These are the little peoples who took advantage of you friend, yes?" He asked Raphael.

"That's correct," Raphael affirmed.

"I believe I can find these peoples," Gabriel told Harry. "They smell like..." He cocked his head. "They smell like Arlene. Like the future. It's an uncommon smell."

"Can we go now?" Harry said, exhilarated with this immediate success.

Gabriel's grin got toothier yet. "Climb aboard, friend," he said, rolling over and shaking his big black body from head to toe, shedding grass. Harry looked at him skeptically.

"I wouldn't eat you," Gabriel said cheerfully. "We're the same person, I think. Arlene says so and she's the smart one."

Finally, shrugging, Harry stepped forward and tentatively climbed onto Gabriel's back, trying to find a good perch and a place to hold onto somewhere in the multitude of scales.

"Er, okay." Harry said at last, apprehensive. "I think that'll do it."

With a lurch Gabriel went into motion underneath him, a few steps across the hill before leaping into the air, the wings on either side of Harry moving up and down. He wasn't prepared to be airborne so soon, and was completely distracted when Raphael and Arlene called good-bye to him. He waved one hand quickly before clutching at Gabriel's scales again. The dragon expansive wings sliced through the air leaving Harry's little hill and oak tree far behind.

"I didn't know this went anywhere," Harry said, and the hill faded out of existence behind him. It didn't disappear behind anything; it was just gone, as if they were no longer in the same space. There was land far below them, a minimal landscape as pale as washed out clothes.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"No place," Gabriel said nonchalantly. "Literally. A buffer zone so nobody's brains are mashed up against each other."

"That's a nice visual," Harry commented distractedly. "When do we get there?"

"Very soon," Gabriel said, his voice almost lost in a gust of wind that pulled at Harry. Water was beneath them now, Harry had missed the transition. "Real world," Gabriel said gruffly.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"This is real world," Gabriel explained. "I'm not real here. It's okay, neither are you; you're back in your school still."

Gabriel dipped down, skimming almost over the surface of the water itself. Harry risked leaning over slightly to look down; the silhouette of a big dragon he expected to see was absent from the waves. They sparkled, reflecting the light of the sun. Something appeared on the horizon and moved toward them rapidly, Harry squinted into the sun with interest. It was an island, obviously, small and very round in appearance. There were many trees. It was definitely not a tropical island. It looked pretty cold; there was a forest on the island with your regular trees, no palms in sight. Harry wondered where exactly in the world they were, the place looked like something out of ancient times, a mystical place.

_Where else did I expect to find them? _He thought with a snort. They moved over the island, and looking down Harry saw what looked like a lake in the middle of the island, and he was confused. "It's… a circle. A circle island? Where do they come up with this stuff?"

"I'm going for the middle," Gabriel said gleefully. "It looks a bit like a target, doesn't it? Like it wants me to land there."

"Doesn't that look… wet?" Harry pointed out.

"We'll see," was Gabriel's response.

Harry held on tight and whooped as they dove down. _This is fun once you get over being terrified. _

They landing in the water in the center with a huge splash, and Harry found himself completely drenched. "I thought we weren't really here," he protested, scrabbling to retain his seat on Gabriel's suddenly slippery back, failing and sliding down to hopelessly to splash again in the water. "Oh, dignified," he said sarcastically to himself.

"How fun!" Gabriel exclaimed. "This place is interesting. It exists… both places at once. In the real world and not the real world. Maybe I will come back and play."

"It's doubtful that you will be welcomed, sorry," Harry informed him. "I intend to mess up their day a little." _Massive black dragon splashing like a kid in a kiddie pool ruins the ambience anyway, I think. _

"HEY!" Harry yelled, as if the splash hadn't already informed everyone of their dropping in. "Who can I talk to on this floating doughnut?"

"What are you doing here, Harry?" The First was standing in front of Harry on the shore, staring at him intently. Harry blinked, not having seen him walk up. A group of people was coalescing behind him, coming from all directions. Men and women, all were wearing the same long white robes that made them look like they were floating. Harry looked over them, some he recognized. These were the same people who'd come to Lily's doorstep when she was baby, and also visited Harry at the same age. One person stood out; Camellia was near the back, nearly blending in with the others. She looked profoundly disappointed. Harry avoided her gaze.

A man with a dark beard stepped up next to The First. "This is the one?" He demanded, gesturing toward Harry.

The First nodded. Everyone behind them looked at Harry calmly, appraisingly. Harry was a bit thrown off, he looked blankly back.

"We've got a million defenses in place, everything to our ability arranged to hide the island, and he FLIES IN ON A DRAGON?" The man continued, outraged.

"It appears so," The First said. "We didn't put up any blocks for Harry, since he's one of us." He didn't look at the bearded man; his eyes had never moved from Harry, "You must excuse my son, he's a bit temperamental when interrupted during his research."

"He called it a floating doughnut!" The man continued, "The disrespect!"

"It does look like a floating doughnut," Harry pointed out. "Or a tire, or a safety ring, or a toilet seat."

"This island is moving." The man demanded, glaring. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to enchant an island like this to be constantly in motion?"

"I don't really care," Harry announced loudly, and they all looked a bit surprised. "I have a bone to pick with you."

"Does the lack of respect never end?" The bearded man moaned.

"I'M TALKING ABOUT MY MOTHER!" Harry yelled, and they all went silent.

"So sorry," The First said slowly. "Such an unfortunate incident."

"I know the truth," Harry told them icily. "Did you _really_ think I wouldn't find out?"

Their faces fell. "He's further along than you thought," someone said in the crowd.

"We knew we wouldn't be able to hide it from you forever," The First told Harry. "But we thought that by the time you did find out, you would understand."

"Understand WHAT?" Harry demanded, though he really didn't care for the answer. "What is there to UNDERSTAND? You shoved my mother through time, putting her through endless torment of being separated from her family, which she worked so hard to get back together. You might have well as stabbed my Dad in the gut. And you used my own abilities to do it! You selfish, interfering bastards!"

The stood stoically.

"SET IT RIGHT," Harry commanded them, yelling, and they looked surprised.

"We can't do that!" The bearded man insisted. "We can't… undo it."

"You can manipulate TIME," Harry said desperately. "You have to fix it."

"It doesn't work that way," The First said, expression unchanging.

Harry growled with frustration. "You… The Thirteen, can all go to hell."

"That's an amusing thing to say," The bearded man commented. "It's obsolete to be angry at us… you are one of us."

"Why am I one of you, exactly?" Harry wanted to know.

"We need thirteen timeworkers at all times," the man explained. "Otherwise we wouldn't have enough power to effect time, only to watch."

"Maybe that's the way things are supposed to be," Harry suggested icily. Something was occurring to him. "Well, if you don't set it right…" He looked at them, gaining momentum. He stood tall, and glared, looking at them with crazy, angry eyes to let them know that he was being serious. "I"LL KILL MYSELF."

"You can't do that!" The First said, as if it were a ludicrous idea. "Not after all the work that went into…"

"Exactly!" Harry said. "If you don't set it right, I kill myself. Then you won't have thirteen people, and any effort you've put into me will be wasted."

"He can't do that, can he?" Someone asked in the crowd. "We could just stop him right?"

"He's not really here," The First said. "He's far away. There isn't any chance we'd get to him in time."

"He wouldn't really do it," the same person said, sure of themselves.

"You willing to bet on that?" Harry said wildly, and the men and women of the Thirteen looked speculative.

"If he dies…" The bearded one said, "Who is the next most powerful timeworker?"

"His mother," Camellia said, finally speaking up. "She's almost powerful enough to be one of the Thirteen, but it wouldn't be enough, and if he died because of this she would never cooperate with us."

The First turned his back on Harry to look at the others. "We need him."

"We can't undo it," the bearded man insisted again, and Harry worried he'd thrown himself into a gamble he couldn't win.

"You are correct," the First said. "We cannot erase what happened. But… we can do this. Harry, if you will?"

Harry figured they needed his help for whatever they wanted to do. He didn't trust them, but he didn't have a choice. "Alright," he said grudgingly. "If it will help."

He didn't really feel anything; they hadn't done anything as monumental as the time storm that took his mother. He wasn't optimistic.

"Go back to your mother," The First suggested.

Harry climbed back on Gabriel's back. "Why did you do it?" He asked again miserable and feeling betrayed. This time he looked right at Camellia, pleading with her with his eyes.

"It would have been better for you in the long run," she said with an honesty that scared Harry. "You'll see."

Harry opened his eyes, shaking himself awake to find himself in Needle tower. His muscles felt tight, and he straightened his arms and legs, wondering how long he'd been gone. He looked next to him to find Mariana kneeling with awe on her face.

Harry turned, and was shocked by what he saw. Lily sat leaning against the wall, as young as she'd been months ago, the mother he knew and not the old crone. She looked at her hands in amazement.

"Lady," Mariana said, breaking their stunned silence. "You're beautiful!"

Lily smiled at Mariana, running her fingers through her long, rich red curls, holding them up where she could look at them. She turned to Harry, then reached out and grabbed his hands.

"Harry, my son." She said. She looked pleased, but frozen. The reality hadn't sunk in. "I look… as I did before I left, yes? But… all the memories are still there."

Harry nodded, understanding. _They couldn't undo what they did, but they pulled her body back from wherever but the memories are still there. I suppose they wouldn't be able to stick me into the future again without my memories, they seem to stick. _

"You don't have to be afraid to see Dad," he told her. "We can be a family again."

Lily hugged him tight.

* * *

_Author's Note: Finally, a happy ending to a chapter, although bittersweet! Feedback is always appreciated, and I added a link in my profile to a new original story of mine about a half-demon on fictionpress. I need some reviews on that so far. _

_Thank you so much to all my loyal readers who keep coming back, I'm glad you enjoy my stories._


	41. Two Years Later

* * *

Chapter Forty-One: Two Years Later

* * *

_They were five miles into the hike when Trucido heard someone behind him lengthen their steps, trying to fall into pace next to him. He glanced over; it was Lucius, of course. _

_"My Lord?" Lucius asked, with an edge of sarcasm. Trucido considered ignoring him, but then nodded acknowledgement. _

_"May I inquire as to our destination?" Lucius was obviously annoyed. "Any why, pray tell, are we walking there? We could fly or apparate." _

_"It's the only way to find where we're going," Trucido said, as if that were obvious. _

_"And where would that be?" Lucius was even more demanding this time. _

_"Won't know' til we get there," Trucido said casually. _

_"But—" _

_"Shh," Trucido said firmly. In his peripheral vision, he saw Lucius' jaw drop in a moment of gracelessness quite unlike him, before he gained his composure. On the inside, Trucido was grinning. _He can't stand some 24 year old 'kid' talking to him like that, _Trucido thought, amused. _

_"Trucido—" Lucius said in a more commanding tone, dropping the 'Lord', trying to take charge. _

_Trucido wasn't having any of it. He stopped in his tracks, leaving Lucius to stop unexpectedly, knocking him off balance. "Am I your Lord, or am I not?" he demanded. _

_"Yes," Lucius said grudgingly. Trucido continued, trying to leave him behind. _

_"Can't you—" Lucius started, but Trucido cut him off a third time. Lucius' pale complexion was turning red with frustration. It was the most fun Trucido had in a long time. _

_"Shh!" Trucido repeated, "I can't listen when you're talking." Lucius fell silent. _

_Trucido focused on his sense of hearing, turning slightly to the right and uphill. A minute later and he came to a stop, gazing around the hill. Lucius caught up again and stood stoically, raising an eyebrow. _

_"This is it," Trucido said. Boulders were scattered across the landscape like a giant's game of marbles, and the ground was rocky. A cluster of boulders on the side of the hill suddenly moved, rolling apart in unison to reveal a dark hole in the ground. _

_The five Death Eaters accompanying Trucido were fairly shocked; they'd all suspected the pressure of being the new Dark Lord had finally cracked the young man. They hadn't really cared, since he was more a figurehead than anything else. They'd been the power behind him all these years, Lucius in particular. However, Trucido had to be indulged here and there to keep him cooperative, and while the walk had been tedious they'd followed along faithfully. Now they were completely mystified, and it occurred to them for the first time that Trucido actually had something in mind, and was up to something they weren't in control of. _

_"Wait here," Trucido commanded, leaving them behind and striding into the cave. _

_Inside it was dark, and still. _"I've come," _he announced. _

_Finally, movement. Writhing up to him, the Naga Oracle uncurled into an upright position, snake body supporting his human half. _

"You know, at first I thought I was hallucinating," _Trucido told him . _"Then I realized that I wasn't just dreaming, and you were speaking to me." _Trucido had followed the faint hissing voice for miles to find the location of the cave. _

_The Naga Oracle looked pleased. He gestured for Trucido to exit the cave, and then followed at the young man's side. _

_Outside, the faces of the Death Eaters fell, pale in horror. _

_Trucido didn't feel the need to explain himself or his companion in any way. _"They don't looked particularly pleased," _he hissed in Parseltongue, the gift of snake-speech that he'd inherited from his father. _

"In the old daysss, I wasss more powerful than they," _Shissskae rationalized. _"Sssince the departure of their esssteemed leader, through you they havvve gained all the power they ever dreamed of."

"To a powerful alliance, then, my new friend," _Trucido proposed, folding his arms and gazing at his 'followers' with a newly acquired aura of confidence, authority. The plan gave him a feeling of control he'd been without for so very long. _

_"We need to prepare," Trucido spoke in English to the men. _

_"Prepare for what?" Lucius asked, as if dreading the answer. _

_"To resurrect my father," Trucido informed them. _

_They looked at him blankly, faces frozen with the same expression of horror. _

_"… you want to… bring Lord Voldemort back?" Lucius asked slowly. "…really?" _

_Trucido looked at him closely, with feigned suspicion. "You do not? Well my father will definitely be interested to hear of this." _

"With you assss Dark Lord, they do assss they like. They have nothing to fear from you, they gain nothing by bringing him back," _Shissskae commented. _

"Well things are about to change around here," _Trucido responded. "I assume you all remember the Naga Oracle," he said to the others. "He has given me the information I need to return my father to corporeal form." _

_He enjoyed the way the others actually grew fearful to hear his hissing speak, it just reminded them too much of their former master. It was one thing that had always set him apart, proved his lineage and right to succeed as Dark Lord. He was a powerful wizard in his own right, but simply not ambitious enough to assume complete authority. Voldemort's inner circle had taken advantage of the situation after their masters seeming demise. The fear of the father had transferred to the son, giving him enough respect that everyone listened. _"You're sure this is the best way?" _he asked Shissskae in parseltongue._

"Trussst meee." _The Naga Oracle hissed._

* * *

A knock on the compartment door caught Harry and Tracy's attention, and they looked up from their game of wizard's chess to see Draco open the door and step in. A voice behind him caught Draco's attention, and he turned to see Ron and Hermione behind him before holding the door open.

Harry smiled to himself, amused.

In the two years that Harry had now been going to Hogwarts with his friends things had peaceably settled. Having parents was better than he ever dreamed. Lily was safely returned to James, they'd had a sweet reunion.

Nothing had changed much on the dark wizard front: for fifteen years the majority of the Death Eaters let the crusade go and slowly melted away into the regular Wizarding society. The ones left over rallied around Lord Trucido, and the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry sometimes had their hands full with their mischief, but there wasn't enough firepower behind their actions to be a true threat to the Wizarding World. Nothing dramatic enough had taken place that Harry felt he needed to step in and involve himself. He was living the regular life of a young wizard.

Ron and Hermione had gotten used to the presence of Draco, since Harry was a Slytherin and Draco was inevitably around. Draco himself even seemed friendly, and there were no harsh words or confrontation between the potential enemies. Tracy stuck by his side as his best friend. She'd come over to his house the week before term started, it wasn't uncommon for her to visit. Most of Hogwarts assumed they were 'together' even though they never displayed any evidence supporting that, Harry and Tracy didn't particularly care what they thought. 'Why can't a guy and a girl be friends without everyone making a fuss?' Tracy would wonder sarcastically.

Draco, Ron, and Hermione settled across from them in the compartment, although Draco sat next to the window and the other two left a gap between them. They weren't very close friends, Draco seemed sometimes to think he owed it to his reputation to make some snide comments, but his reputation wasn't that 'bad' to begin with. Ron and Hermione seemed to be very much the same people as Harry had known them in what he sometimes referred to as 'his first life'. His first life seemed so very long ago now. Things were better, maybe it was best to be forgotten. Sometimes he dreamed about it.

_Maybe it had all been a dream to begin with?_ He wondered, though he didn't really believe it. Camellia showed up here and there, he knew the Thirteen was out there on their freaky little island. He hoped they weren't brewing any plans in those shifty heads of theirs.

Suddenly he recalled Camellia's words, _'It would have been better for you in the long run. You'll see.' _He shivered. He didn't want to know what that meant; he hoped he never found out.

"How was your summer, Draco?" Harry asked.

Draco looked over at him from where he'd been gazing at the window. "Fine, I guess. My mother and I went to France."

"What about your father?" Harry asked curiously.

"What about him?" Draco said with a shrug. "He was gone, busy with other things. My father has never been around, my whole life."

"What does he do?" Tracy asked.

"It's pretty secret, but…" Draco looked as if he were saying something he really shouldn't; he leaned in and lowered his voice. "I have a brother somewhere he likes more than me."

"You have a brother?" Harry was surprised, he'd never heard of Draco having a brother before.

"A half brother," Draco explained. "He's older; my father isn't actually his father. My mother had him before they got married but kept it secret. My father adopted him."

_That doesn't sound like something Lucius would do, _Harry thought. _Adopt someone else's kid? And I thought he was always grooming Draco to be a good little Death Eater. I guess not. _

"When I was little, I used to idolize my father," Draco said sheepishly. "Then I saw he couldn't care less about me, and I saw what kind of man he really was."

_Oh… _Harry was comprehending now. _Draco is so different this life because he hasn't been under the influence of his father, he was left to develop into his own person. I wonder what changed that drew Lucius away? Maybe this brother died last time. Though I still think it's out of character for Lucius to care more about someone he adopted than his own son, since he cares so much about blood lineage. _

At last they pulled up to Hogwarts. The five fifth-years excited the train, heading toward the carriages that would bring them to the school. A hand fell to Harry's shoulder as he was mid-step, and Harry stopped to see who it was. "Wait," he called to the others, who turned around.

Cedric Diggory smiled at Harry, removing his hand from Harry's shoulder. "Harry, would you mind staying behind and letting your friends go on? Ride the last carriage with me."

Harry looked to the others and shrugged.

"See ya Harry," Tracy said as they walked on.

"I didn't know Harry knew Cedric Diggory," he heard Ron say.

_I don't, _Harry thought, looking to Cedric curiously. _Not personally, anyway. _Cedric stood, watching the carriages with a smile as they rode off. He had been last years Tri-Wizard Tournament Champion. Without the interference of Voldemort Harry had never been entered to the Goblet of Fire, nor had the final challenge been tampered with. Harry had been happy to watch, safe on the sidelines with his friends. Now in his seventh year Cedric had been pushed to celebrity, and there was no doubt that he deserved it. Harry was usually just happy to see him alive. The death of Cedric Diggory was something that had weighed on him strongly, and feeling it lift was a relief.

Harry could still see the thestrials pulling the carriages; he'd seen the woodcutter's family die, after all. Harry frowned at the memory.

The carriages were pulling away until there was only one left, waiting for them, empty. _I wonder what he wants to talk to me about? _

Cedric was looking out to the lake, and Harry followed his gaze. The boats with the first years had moved away from the shore. A silhouette of a person stood on the shore with their back to Cedric and Harry, waving to the boats. Finally the person turned around and headed back in their direction, and Harry saw it was a young woman. She was a couple years older than Harry, and unlike Cedric wasn't wearing robes. Harry tried to place her face, wondering which house she was in.

She smiled as she walked up to them. She had long, slightly wavy brown hair and light eyes. She looked at Harry, almost bashfully, tilting her head. Harry was struck by something in her eyes, something that seemed much older than her years.

Cedric took her hand. "How did it go?" he asked. "She helps with the first year muggle-borns," he added to Harry.

"Smoothly," she replied, standing right next to him. They were clearly a couple.

"Let's go then," Cedric decided, guiding them toward to last carriage. They climbed in and settled, the two of them across from Harry.

"So…" Harry said, confused, waiting for some kind of explanation. The young woman was leaning forward slightly, looking at him very closely. He realized she was looking at his scar, and he shifted restlessly with irritation. _Did Cedric have me come back here with him just so his curious girlfriend could ogle at the famous 'Boy-Who-Lived'? That really doesn't sound like something Cedric would do, but here we are. _

The young woman reached to her neckline and tugged at a chain she wore there, pulling it out from under her shirt. It was a locket, and she gripped it firmly, looking down at it. "This was my mothers," she told Harry.

Harry didn't know how to reply, still perplexed.

"My name is Amanda Lisle," she introduced herself, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Harry Potter," Harry did the same, taking her hand.

"So I see," she said.

"Amanda isn't in the history books," Cedric Diggory told Harry. "They thought she should be left in peace."

"I was only three and a half when my parents were killed by Voldemort," Amanda continued. "But I remember it well."

Harry was again, taken aback. "I'm sorry for your loss," was all he could think to say.

She nodded. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time," she said. "But never really had the chance."

_So have a lot of people, _Harry thought.

"I've wanted to thank you." She said and clasped his hands. "When Voldemort entered my house, my mother hid me under the bed, and I saw how you tried to help them, even though you were so little. And thank you for bringing it all to an end."

Harry looked at her blankly, slowly understanding. He could remember her watching him with wide eyes in the woodcutter's cottage. Her hair had been curlier then.

_That's right, _Harry realized. _The parents and boys were killed, I was too horrified by their deaths to think straight and remember there had been a little girl. I've always tried to avoid remembering them how they were, it just made me too sad and guilty. But she lived! _

Amanda suddenly hugged Harry, and Harry hugged back. "I'm glad to see you're well," he said honestly. "After all these years, here you are. A survivor."

She leaned back next to Cedric. "It's been a hard thing to live with," she admitted. "But I always hold them in memory."

"They were good people," Harry said. "They took me in when they didn't even know who I was."

"They were," Amanda agreed.

* * *

_Author's Note: _

_Hello everyone, _

_Anyone who's been subscribed to be for a while has probably noticed that I will go through a phase of frantic activity and post a couple chapters, then disappear for a couple months if not a year, before coming back. These phases of activity usually occur during a winter or summer break when I have plenty of time on my hands, to really get engaged in my stories. Then I don't have time anymore, usually resulting in me losing interest because I'm not longer immersed in my writing. I had a couple weeks there with plenty of time, I didn't have anything to do at my job and my boyfriend was working all day. Now however, City College is starting, I'm a full time student and I have two jobs (though they are erratic and sometimes don't need me… I'm a teacher's aide at KidzArt, teaching art to kids, and I just started a second job, working at concerts in my town. I just worked at the sold out Stevie Wonder concert (over 4000 people attended), as event staff, and Velvet Revolver, Alice in Chains, and Modest Mouse are coming up. Fun! _

_Anyway, my point is, expect me to be unreliable. I HOPE that I don't lose sight of my stories and still keep working on them when I do have time. One thing I want to mention is: every single time I have returned, it was because I was still receiving reviews every week, and the enthusiasm I was getting in my reviews would catch me and make me want to write more and share more with everyone. So keep them coming, this won't be the last you'll hear of Jezaray. _

_About this chapter: I realize that it's actually two and a half years later, since it's the beginning of fifth year, but that didn't sound as good as a chapter title. Also I originally miscalculated Trucido's age, he would have been 24 last chapter and 26 now, but I like him 24 so I left it. It's a short chapter because it's a transition. Next, we will see what the Shadows of Hogwarts are up to._

_Thank you. _


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